The Brauchi Experience

Dance Recital Video...

2011-07-17T13:06:00.000-07:00

(Hopefully, we'll get the actual video soon, but until then, we have our amateur video to share...)

One of my friends always describes Calla as the biggest little person she's ever known, and Calla definitely proved her right with her dance recital. A lot of the girls just stood on the stage and maybe got a twirl or tap in, but Calla danced the entire time! She didn't always get the moves in the right place, but she was super cute trying! I love my little performer!

Leslie, on the contrary, got every move in the exact right place. I recorded a rehearsal of the girls dances in April so they could practice at home, so Leslie knew every move perfectly. I was actually a little worried because she knew her dances so well, that she had gotten a little sloppy on the timing of things. But come performance time, she got her act together and didn't miss a beat! She was concentrating so hard and counting the beats in her head, that she forgot to smile:) Even though she looked intense on stage, she had a great experience and really enjoyed her time in the spotlight. For the first time, I also noticed a little bit of the Kerlick in her shine through with her leadership and self-assurance/pride. I'm very proud of her for listening and practicing so well all year, and for shedding her meekness to embrace the wonderful little girl God made her to be!

I was so worried going into this weekend that one or both of the girls were not going to make it to the recital. I learned last year how heart-breaking it is in dance to practice all year for this one-time-only chance to perform and not make it. The girls tried their best, but my prayers were answered- with a little bit of help from Advil. Calla had one of her crazy high fevers all week, but managed to pull it together enough for the recital. (My apologies if we got other kids sick.) And Leslie pulled one of her all too common morning vomit routines, but after some rest and food, was able to rebound and dance. It's always something...

Dance Recital Pictures...

2011-07-07T13:03:00.001-07:00

The girls did so well at their dance recital! Calla's class was officially for 2-3 year olds, but it met the same time as Leslie's class and was really small, so after a trial run, the teacher let her join a few weeks early so she would make the cut-off date for costume order and get to be in the recital. So, calla was at least a full year younger than most of the other girls, but she did great!

I know I'm biased, but I seriously think Leslie has got to be the sweetest, most beautiful little 5 year old... ever...

Swim Lessons...

2011-07-07T12:51:00.001-07:00

The girls enjoyed taking swim lessons at COM again this year...

Calla got to swim with Daddy this day so I could go back and forth to take pictures!

She especially loves Humpty Dumptys and Zoom to the Walls...

Leslie enjoyed her regular lessons, but this was "fun" day, so the kids got to go off the diving board. Doesn't she look like she's having fun?

She survived the diving board trama and had a much better time on the rope swing...

Easter Memories...

2011-07-06T17:53:00.001-07:00

Easter was a basket full of fun like always. The girls were very happy to wake up and check out what the Easter Bunny left them...

"More Candy!"

Fun-filled egg-citing mess...

One of our friends had her fancy camera with her at church and offered to take some pictures. I like to think we give her easy subjects to work with, but her pictures always turn out beautiful!

With their friend, Maddie...

After church, all the family came over to our house for Easter lunch. We were also fortunate enough to have our good friends, the Swaringens, eat with us since they don't have any family in town...

After lunch, the girls got special Easter packages from Grandmommy and PaPa...

I love big family events and making big family memories with/for the girls! We are so very blessed!

"Egg Hunt..."

2011-07-06T16:33:00.000-07:00

FUMC had an "egg hunt" at a local park the weekend before Easter. I use quotations because Midland's so flat, they really just throw a few hundred eggs on a field and turn the kids loose. They don't know any different, so of course, they had a blast...

Ice Cream Party...

2011-07-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

The saturday after her birthday, we had her special Ice Cream Birthday Party! It was really fun to put together and much easier than last year's!

All the friends playing...

Her "cake" was chocolate dipped ice cream cones...

We usually don't have our "Houston Family" around for these special events, but it worked out this year that some of them were able to join us. Leslie was so excited to have her cousins around to celebrate with her! And I am always greatful they were willing to take time away to visit us!

Instead of cake, everyone picked an ice cream cone, flavor, and then loaded on the toppings! For favors, I found nifty little ice cream/popsicle holders. Perfect!

Then it was presents time...

I love birthday parties and getting a chance to celebrate another year in my child's life! Leslie has been a huge blessing in my life and I hope this birthday party made her feel as special as she is to all of us!

Leslie's Birthday...

2011-07-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

April is always loaded with fun for us. We kicked off the month with Leslie's birthday! All the family met at Mr. Ghatti's to start the evening off...
MiMi and PawPaw drove down to visit the girls and help us celebrate...

After dinner, everyone came back to our house for cookie cake and presents...

Unfortunately, she hardly got any presents;)

March Madness...

2011-06-13T18:49:00.000-07:00

March had a lot of random pictures with fun stories!

The girls love cream cheese on crackers for snack. This night, Leslie asked for them for dessert after dinner. She takes forever to eat, so the rest of us were already done and had left the table waiting for her to finish. Then, I looked at her and realized that she has the cracker and is circling it around her mouth. We have this problem of her smearing food around her mouth fairly often, so using my Love & Logic, I said, "Uh-oh! That's sad" and took her cracker away. It was her last one anyways, but it sent her into a fit running off to her room. When we saw her clown mouth, we made her come back so we could take a picture and laugh at her. Tears of a clown...

Leslie is an awesome reader. She reads on a 4th grade level from most things I look at! It's so sweet when she sits down and actually uses her skills and time to read her sissy a book...

Towards the end of the month, we went to a friend's Star Wars themed birthday party. They had a little skit worked out so the kids could earn their padiwan cloaks and light sabers. Everyone thought it was fun, but Calla thought it was awesome...

I was getting ready to repaint the girls toenails one day and Leslie looked down at her chipped polish and said, "Hey look! It looks like the United States." And it did! How does a 4 year old know these things?

My old college friend, Miranda, came to town for a visit over spring break. We had all sorts of fun things planned, but Calla got sick, so we ended up just bumming around the house most days and running errands. We still had a lot of fun catching up and laughing about old times. I am very grateful to have a friend that is willing to come be bored with me and just give me some much needed girl time.

Daddy's toy...

2011-05-21T12:09:00.001-07:00

This is a rare post dedicated solely to Barry... Now that he's playing in church band fairly often, he really needed a pedal board to help him transport tools back and forth more easily, but he didn't want to pay a ton for something he thought he could make himself. So he went to the hardware store and bought some wood, industrial strength velcro, and spray paint, then borrowed a jig saw, and a few days later, he had his perfect pedal board for a fraction of the cost!

He also realized he wanted fancy expensive guitar pedals, but didn't want to pay for them. So, he bought a soldering iron and now makes his own from scratch. He even made the decals!

I have such a handy husband! Now if only he could figure out how to fix the stove igniter and keep the shower from dripping...

Paper Dolls...

2011-05-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

Our church gave all the children life-size paper dolls to decorate as themselves, and then hung them up lining the walls of the church for our special children's Sunday. Leslie, of course, wanted to decorate hers like a Fancy Nancy dress she has. Luckily, I have lots of extra fabric scraps, and taping it on the doll was pretty easy. Leslie helped me with the measuring, cutting, and taping... They were a bit more work than I anticipated, but they were cute when finished...
I cut pretty tissue paper squares for Calla's dress and then let her stick them on. It worked great for her age and turned out super cute...

Feb extra

2011-05-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

Calla in her leotard before dance class...

Cute Calla in her Valentines clothes...

Sisterly bonding time...

This is Leslie performing a song she learned in church choir...

Cast Life...

2011-05-18T17:54:00.000-07:00

Leslie adjusted to life with a cast pretty well. The first couple of days were pretty easy besides getting comfy to sleep. In general, she liked all the special attention and exceptions made for her... especially when it came to bath time and washing hair...

Learning how to fall...

2011-05-18T17:47:00.000-07:00

February 18th was a beautiful Friday and the forecast was sunshine for days, so Barry and I decided to pack the girls up and head out to the local nurseries to buy some spring vegetables for our garden. We thought it would be a nice treat to take the girls to Chick-fil-A for an early dinner before hitting the last couple stops. Leslie ate her dinner really fast, so she got to go play in the play area while Daddy got her ice cream. Everything was good.

Leslie is always nice and overly cautious in these activities, so I wasn't worried about her. I sat at the table with Calla while she finished up her meal. Luckily, we had a table by the play area, so I could watch Leslie, too. She climbed up and twisted her way through the maze to the top of the slide. She slid down it and popped up with a big smile on her face. Then she started to hop back to the entrance... and tripped...

She immediately started screaming. I ran in there, picked her up, and she started yelling that she needed to go to the hospital. At first, I just thought she was scared and being dramatic remembering breaking her elbow last spring. I mean, how bad could she really have hurt herself falling on a padded floor? Luckily, this was not my first rodeo with her elbows. We came home, put ice on it and watched for any swelling or bruising.

By dinner, it looked fine, but she still wouldn't move it, so we decided to take her to the doctor. We had already contacted the family and had them on stand by. So with Calla's bed time approaching, we mobilized the troops. Mom and some other helpers came over to watch Calla, and Barry and I headed to the minor emergency clinic for x-rays.

Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long, because the PA quickly looked at her elbow and told us he was afraid it might be dislocated and the x-rays they provide are not sensitive enough to picture kids bones well. So now it's 9 o'clock on a Friday night, and we know the ER is going to be packed. She was in good spirits, it wasn't hurting her anymore (as long as she kept it still), and I could touch it without any pain. We decided to tough it out 'til morning, and if she still can't move it, Barry will take her first thing in the morning before it gets crowded.

She had a rough night... much worse than when she broke it last spring. She couldn't get comfortable all night and kept accidentally rolling on it and waking up screaming. Morning couldn't come soon enough. But in hind sight, I'm glad she got the rest she did, because I can't imagine us going through everything on no sleep in the middle of the night.

Barry was awake and showered before Leslie even woke up, and we had packed her bag the night before anticipating the early morning trip. So as soon as Leslie woke up, Barry rushed her out the door and headed back to the ER (which was now nice and empty). I, once again, mobilized the family unit to help watch Calla and then headed up to the hospital.

By the time I got there, she was already in a room and had x-rays done... so we were just waiting for the doctor to come tell us everything looked okay and send us home. She was in a really good mood and generally acted a ton better...

Then the doctor came in and quickly told us that her elbow was broken and needed surgery. They had already called the on-call orthopedist, and he would meet us at the main hospital. And then walked out to arrange the mandatory ambulance transfer. Wait. What? It was alot to take in and sort through with the clock ticking. After several phone calls and with much hesitation, we decided to have the surgery done as planned and prayed for the best. Since the surgeon was waiting on us to be transferred and the ambulance was taking forever to pick us up, the hospital went ahead and did as much of the pre-op stuff as possible. So by the time the ambulance picked her up, she had a gown on, an IV in, and blood drawn. She was really brave through it all and did as good as can be expected out of a four year old! She really liked getting to ride in the ambulance but was disappointed they didn't run the lights or sirens for her...

It was a whirlwind of activity as soon as we pulled up to the main hospital doors. They immediately rushed her up to pre-op. The anesthesiologist came and spoke with us, and then asked if his 12 year old son could watch. It kind of freaked me out to think about her being intubated and seeing the heart monitor cords stuck on. This was a full scale legit surgery. She was officially anesthetized for her ear tubes, but that didn't involve an IV or being intubated.

The doctor then came out and told us that he had looked at the x-rays, and her elbow was not broken which was a huge relief... but she did have a dislocation of the radial head which needed to be reduced. He showed us the x-rays and explained what probably happened when she fell was that she put her arms out to catch herself, and since her arms over extend a little, the Ulna flexed up and pushed the Radius out of socket. On adults, the ulna would have just broken, but since kids bones are so flexible, it simply bowed. He told us that it should be a really quick and easy procedure and that most of the time would be allotted to wrapping her cast. I was very relieved when he said that if for some reason it didn't pop back in easily, he would just wrap it up and send her to Lubbock to see a pediatric orthopedist. And with that- she was off...

As promised, the surgery was really quick. He came out, told us everything went great, showed us new x-rays, and said she should be out soon. I went back to sit with her while she woke up. She did not want to wake up for anything, but finally, with the help of some ice packs and the promise of ice cream, she came around...

She took a nap, ate some ice cream, used the bathroom, and was home in time for bed.

I am so thankful for all the family and people God has put in our lives to help us through these crazy times. I can't imagine having to go through all that with Calla in tow! And the orthopedist, whom we very anxious over because no one had heard of him before, turned out to be a Godsend. He's new to town, but is very good at what he does and is taking over a lot of the trama calls. He is a very direct and down-to-business man with Barry and I, which I respect, and he has 3 little girls, so he knows how to talk to Leslie well.

Leslie will continue to have regular check-ups with decreased frequency over the next 3 years just to make sure everything is growing right. Now if I can just figure out where they sent Sam Bradford to teach him how to fall right...

January Extras...

2011-05-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

Leslie likes to draw things on the Magna Doodle alot, but they usually don't last for long. I actually got a picture of this sweet one before it was erased...

Calla in her princess clothes...

We found a trash bag full of stuffed animals I saved from mine and Will's childhood. Calla really liked Uncle Willy's dinosaur...

Calla's 2nd Birthday...

2011-05-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

Calla's 2nd Birthday Party was so much fun! I got another use out of her Halloween dress... but this time I put some wings on her to transform her into a the cutest little baby princess fairy ever...

She chose Rosa's for her birthday dinner and got to wear the special birthday crown...

Ski Trip...

2011-05-18T11:29:00.001-07:00

We had the awesome opportunity to go skiing with the youth from church in January. All we had to do was lead worship! The youth director has a couple of girls around Leslie's age, so Leslie got to come too (Calla stayed home for some special Grandmommy time.) Here's Leslie and friends before ski school the first morning...

"French Fries" down the slope...

Leslie and Daddy skiied together the second day. Her favorite part was riding the lift...

Poor Daddy just had to hold her under her arms and slide her all the way down. He was pretty exhausted after a couple runs...

Turns out, I still really stink at skiing, so I ran around the bottom of the mountain taking pictures...

Cute little snow bunny...

To end the day, Barry and Leslie got to tube some...

It was an awesome trip, and Leslie can't wait to go again!

Our little New England...

2011-05-18T11:16:00.001-07:00

Every winter Leslie looks forward to playing in the leaves, and this year, Calla got to play too! We have 3 big trees between our house and the neighbor's, so when all the leaves fall, they get trapped and pile up well. That little 20 ft square is our piece of New England:)

Christmas Morning...

2011-05-17T18:29:00.001-07:00

We had alot of fun Christmas morning! We were able to take it easy and go as slow as they wanted. It always takes forever opening Christmas gifts because they want to stop and play with each one!

Calla's favorite again this year was a box...

Calla got a trunk for all of her dress up clothes. Leslie would hide in it with whatever toy she was playing with so Calla wouldn't bother her...

Like always, Santa brought Leslie a cookie cake...

Christmas 2010...

2011-05-17T17:53:00.000-07:00

Our church doesn't do an early kids Christmas Eve service anymore. The weekend before, they have a event called, "One night in Bethleham" which is a walk-through interactive telling of the Christmas Stroy. It's fun for the kids, but I still always feel weird not going to a Christmas Eve service at the church. However, it is easier to fit all of the other activities in and still get to bed on time! All the family came over for Christmas Eve dinner and and presents.

Leslie held Jordan captive in her room playing Zingo...

Granddaddy had to help watch and feed the baby...

Then Grandmommy had to rock her to sleep...

Ben ate caramel corn by the fist full...

We took a picture of the girls' loot after Santa came...

Life in the City...

2011-05-17T16:55:00.001-07:00

My parents apartment is only 2 bedrooms, but luckily, it has really big closets. The master closet is big enough for a twin matress! And the spare bedroom can easily fit a playpin:) It seems a little weird, but it was actually nice that we could shut the closet doors after they went to sleep so it was quiet for them. Of course, we opened them when we laid down, too. Here's Leslie one morning with her Build-A-Bear, Twinkles...

My step-dad, who's usually a bit of a Scrooge, even went out and bought a little tree for the girls! It was sweet he got the apartment all decked out for the holidays, too...

Both girls were mesmerized by the city view. They spent alot of time looking out the windows watching all the people and cars zoom by...

This view was their favorite because they could see the big river and over into New Jersey...

Christmas in the City- Day 6...

2011-05-17T16:28:00.001-07:00

On our last day in NYC, it finally warmed up into the 40's, so we headed out to Central Park. I was surprised by how fast we had acclimated to the cold... Leslie didn't even want to keep her jacket on at the play ground!

We rode the carousel...

And then we got to take a carriage ride through Central Park! Leslie was really looking forward to this, but the crowd was unbelievable thick. There's no rhyme or reason to getting a carriage, just luck of the draw. Luckily, Mitch was in his nice jacket and I have one of the cutest 4 yr olds ever, so he picked her up, muscled their way to the curb, and they had one waved down within 5 minutes! Once again, Calla fell asleep and could not be woken, but at least we have a picture to prove she was with us!

I wish we could see Calla better, but overall, this is one our best family pictures ever...

We are eternally grateful that we have family who love us and our girls so much that they will spend the time and money to give us these awesome opportunities and memories! Thank you!

Christmas in the City- Day 5...

2011-05-17T16:17:00.001-07:00

Barry got up early and took a big red bus around town seeing all the tourist spots. He insisted on riding on the open top level. I don't know how he didn't freeze! But he did get some really neat pictures. I'm glad he got up and made the most of his time in NYC (and that he was kind enough to leave me home!)

After lunch, Mom and Mitch stayed home with Calla while she napped so Barry and I could take Leslie ice skating. We loaded her up in the stroller and walked down to Bryant Park where skating was "free" and less crowded than Rockefeller. By the time you payed for skate rental and shoe/stroller storage, it was far from "free!"

I don't know why Leslie had her mind set on going ice skating. I know it looks like fun, but I also knew it wouldn't be. Barry and I took turns holding her up and pushing her around the rink. Talk about a workout! And it's not like we're very accomplished skaters ourselves! By the fourth lap, she was finished and ready to go home. Like everything else, I'm glad we tried and she at least has the memory of it. Next time, we might have to drive over to Odessa and practice beforehand! At least we got some good caramel corn afterward, so the trip wasn't totally a waste! That evening, my parents were busy with some business people in town. So after dinner, we walked over to Rockefeller Center with the girls to go to the "Top of the Rock." The tour guide on Barry's bus said the views from this building were the best in the city and not to waste your time at the Empire State Building. Always listen to the locals! He was right. Other than the pieces of glass, we had a clear view all around... no cables or wires to look through. Leslie kept scaring Daddy by putting her hand and arm out between the glass panes and feeling the breeze:)

I'm a little concerned that she loved the city lights so much! But she was full of energy running around spotting all the buildings, parks and the river. She is always enthralled by all the lights! On this level, she spent time jumping on the different squares the roof was made out of and shouting to every one that she can make the roof move! "Leslie, stop doing that, you're scaring people!"
Calla on the other hand, managed to sleep through it all. She went through security and everything and didn't bat a lash. We even tried to get her out a couple times. Tired baby...

Christmas in the City- Day 4...

2011-05-17T15:39:00.001-07:00

On day 4, PaPa and Daddy finally joined us. The Children's Museum of Manhattan had a special Wizard of Oz and Dora exhibit, so everyone took Leslie there after lunch while I stayed home and napped with Calla...

My mom and step-dad offered to watch the girls for us one night, so we could have a night out on the town! Of course, this was the coldest night of our entire trip, but at least we had each other to stay warm;)

I tried to be a good tour guide and take him to all the main attractions (since I figured the girls would not want to do it again!)

We hadn't planned on going to a show since we weren't real certain of every one's plans. After dinner, we walked down to the half price tickets center in Times Square to see what shows were available. Memphis ended up being the one we got which worked out well since it was close to the apartment. It was okay... lots of awkward jokes. Maybe next time we can have a little more notice and get to see something better! Either way, it was just nice to spend some time out together in the big city!

Christmas in the City- Day 3...

2011-05-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

Most of our days were pretty laid back. We usually woke up and took our time getting ready and eating, then after Calla's nap, we would head out for the day. Top of the list this day... Ferris Wheel inside Toys R Us!

That evening we fought the crowds and went to see the big tree and ice rink at Rockefeller Center. The tree was much bigger than I expected, and the rink, much smaller... and crowded!

The girls were not very happy getting out of their warm cocoons and putting jackets on to see the rink!

Christmas in the City- Day 2...

2011-05-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

Day 2 of our trip was a big one! We began by waking up early (or not sleeping in) and heading over to Macy's to see Santa. The whole event was completely over the top amazing! Here's Leslie by Santa's sleigh...

Both the girls got to sit on Santa's lap and tell them all their wants and wishes. Or sit and smile awkwardly as it may be. I like this picture because it looks like Calla is really telling him what she wants...

We took the afternoon off and rested up because that night was...... THE ROCKETTES!! Barry and Mitch were not in NYC yet, so it was a girls night out. Mom and I (and the crabby man sitting next to us) were a little worried taking Calla, but you can't go to NYC at Christmas and not see the Rockettes!

Calla ended up doing great! She was quiet and attentive then entire time. The only time she drew any attention to herself was between songs when she would yell "YAY!" repeatedly and clap as loud and as fast as her little hands could. She LOVED LOVED LOVED it! Even the man who huffed and puffed when we sat down complimented her after the show! Leslie liked it alot, too. Her personality is just so different from Calla's to begin with. Leslie sat still and didn't move or blink the entire time. She was overwhelmed and mesmerized by it all. It's now 5 months later, and she is still practicing her kicks:)

Christmas in the City- Day 1...

2011-05-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

My mom and step-dad were kind enough to take us all up to visit New York City this December! It was magical seeing the city all decked out in Christmas decorations. Of course, we picked a cold week to go, but we didn't know better... it was just cold. I'm sure everyone could tell we were tourists because we had the girls wrapped up like there was a blizzard outside...

Mom and I got them all bundled up and headed out on first outing. Once we got the store and started taking all of the layers off of the girls, we realized that they were sweating! Between the wind shield and foot muff, they were always warm. It was nice to not have to keep up with gloves, hats, and jackets all the time! Calla actually liked slipping her hand out the side and feeling the cold air. Crazy girl.

I could tell when I saw a real New Yorker because they had their 9 month old in sweat pants, socks, and a fleece jacket with hands, ankles, and bald head exposed to the elements and everyone seemed fine with it including the baby. Leslie was the biggest kid I saw in a stroller by far. We couldn't even zip her leg sleeping bag up all the way! But I know she doesn't like to walk much, especially fast, so the stroller was a must!

The first stop we made was the Build a Bear Workshop...

Then we strolled over to FAO. The girls had alot of fun on the giant piano, but Calla wasn't quite heavy enough to play the keys without stomping...
Finally, on our way home, we stopped in the M&M store and got a treat... All in all, a VERY good start to our vacation!

Christmas Parade...

2011-05-17T12:20:00.001-07:00

Leslie got to be on the float for her dance studio in the city Christmas Parade. I made her a tutu, bundled her up, and sent her off to throw candy. I love living in a small town that the girls can get the opportunity to do exciting stuff like this! It was a fun experience for her...

Calla and Daddy waiting in the cold for Leslie...

Leslie's float...

Grandmommy came out too...

Leslie with her teacher, Ms. Brenda...

Houston Thanksgiving...

2011-05-17T11:55:00.001-07:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Houston this year. Here's the girls playing Grammy's piano with cousin Kate...

We went to the Zoo one day and Barry took alot of pictures with the special ap on his ipod again...

Leslie hung by Uncle Willy pretty much all day. He's a good uncle and always loves spending time with her and carrying her when she's tired...

Proof that Grammy and Binx came too:)

The other big event that happened in Houston was that Calla learned how to jump. She was pretty excited. It was fun to be able to capture the moment...

The one and only family picture. I made Leslie's dress. And, Calla and Kate have matching skirts of the same fabric. It was cute to see them all dressed up together...

Baby ABC's...

2011-05-16T20:43:00.000-07:00

This isn't as amazing now that Calla's almost 2 1/2, but this was recorded when she was 21 months...

She was pretty grumpy and mumbbling because this was the 3rd time I made her sing it. You can see her mood change in the beginning when I bring out the candy corn bribe! After I gave her the candy corn, you hear Calla say "Xie. Xie." which is "Thank you" in Mandarin Chinese. She picked it up from watching Kai Lan on Nick Jr and went through a few weeks of speaking alot of Chinese. I guess English just wasn't giving her the challenge she was looking for!

A-Maize-ing...

2011-05-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

We finally found a free day to take Leslie out to the Corn Maize... on the last weekend it was open! The weather wasn't great, and Calla was trying to get sick, so Leslie got to have some special Daddy time. She loves all the activities they have there. The Corn Popper...

Driving the School Bus...

And sliding down the gigantic slide on a potato sack...

Barry has an app on his Ipod that takes fun old-timey looking pictures, so he played with it some since he had such a beautiful subject...

Start 'em Young...

2011-05-16T18:03:00.001-07:00

For the last game of the season, we finally made it up to Lubbock early enough to go to Raider Gate and Raider Walk. Both the girls took turns trying to throw a football through a target. Of course, they didn't even get it half way, but they still got a Tech bag, so they were super proud!

Daddy with his sweet littlest Red Raider...

We were watching Leslie's friend, Maddie, for the weekend, so she got to come to the game too. She is being raised as a Longhorn, so we felt it was important to bring her with us and show her how awesome Tech is...

We all lined up for Raider Walk and helped rev up the players for the game...

They even got to meet the Masked Rider and get their pictures signed!

Playing outside before the game...

Playing inside during the game...

Afterward, Baron Batch, a local celebrity from Midland, was outside taking pictures...

Our trips to Lubbock are always fun and this one was one of the best! Can't wait for next year...

November Extras...

2011-05-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

Barry's always thinking of something crazy to do with the girls. This morning they were all taking turns being the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

"He built a small house, called a cocoon, around himself. He stayed inside for more than two weeks..."

"Then he nibbled a hole in the cocoon, pushed his way out and..."

"he was a beautiful butterfly!"

And then they would take a victory lap around the house flapping their wings celebrating their chrysalis!

Calla's life reached a new peak this season with the addition of her music class. She gets to sing songs, play with instruments, act out motions, play with puppets, and do a lot of running around. It has been a bit awkward for me though because Calla prefers to sit in the teachers lap the entire time. Thank God Mrs. Boyd loves her so much and tolerates all the extra work!

A friend of ours took this picture before Leslie's last choir performance. All the kids were told to put bubbles in their mouth to keep them quiet while they walked in and got on the steps. Leslie is nothing if not obedient...

Halloween...

2011-05-16T17:37:00.000-07:00

I'm glad we had so much fun leading up to Halloween because Calla was sick on the actual day. Leslie and Daddy still had fun carving the pumpkin...

Our neighbor is learning how to twist balloons, so he made Leslie 6 different things while Daddy finished up the pumpkin. I'm pretty sure this was her favorite part of the day.

Finished Pumpkin Ghost...

Daddy took Leslie to a Trunk-or-Treat Halloween evening and she got to jump in jumpers. She didn't even care about the candy:)

Halloween Party

2011-05-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

One of our friends from church invited the girls to a Halloween party in their backyard. It was a beautiful, hot day, so both the girls got to wear their beautiful princess/Sleeping Beauty dresses as intended! This is my favorite picture of them together... ever...

They had fun carnival games and crafts set up for the kiddos...

Calla went to the fishing booth and caught some eyeball glasses...

The girls with their friend, Maddie...

Princess Calla...

Funny Note: I'm actually writing this post on May 16th, and today is the first day Leslie has ever watched the second half of Sleeping Beauty. When she picked this costume, she had only read the books and watched the first half, the non-scary half, of Sleeping Beauty. Oh how she's grown...

Biazarro Falapalooza...

2010-11-12T14:37:00.000-08:00

Leslie, or course, was super excited to get her face painted....

Calla ran around chasing people with her wand saying, "Buzz buzz stiiiing!"

Someone told my mom that taking pictures at an angle makes them more interesting, so EVERY picture she took that night is mega crooked. I feel like Leslie is falling over in this picture...

Here's Barry's coworker and her son Chapel (aka Hulk.) He's one of Calla's good friends in the nursery...

Another pic from Mom... Leslie and her beautiful friend, Maddie the Ladybug...

Falapalooza...

2010-11-12T12:03:00.000-08:00

We had 4 straight days of Halloween this year! I made Leslie a Sleeping Beauty inspired dress and Calla coordinating princess dress. It was really cold for the church Fallapalooza on Thursday night, so I made some repairs to Leslie's old Bee costume and Calla got to wear it...

We started the evening by eating hot dogs with Batman...

Then the girls ran through the parking lot collecting candy. PaPa helped Calla from car to car. She was super sweet saying, "twick-o-tweeee" and "tank you" to everyone...

Here she is patiently waiting for her candy...

After collecting candy, the church had several carnival type games set up for them to do...

PaPa with his little bumblebee...

Calla carried Leslie's princess pumpkin around for her all night. She loved having double the loot!

MiMi and PawPaw Visit...

2010-11-12T06:27:00.000-08:00

MiMi and PawPaw came down for a visit at the end of October inspired by the opportunity to see Leslie sing in church. Calla waisted no time warming up to PawPaw. As soon as he laid on the floor, she got a book and backed herself up for him to read to her...

Meanwhile, Leslie had big game-playin' plans to get started with MiMi...

Daddy serenading his family...

Saturday morning, we went to the children's museum. Here are explorers Leslie and Daddy on the look out for more wild MiMi's and Calla's...

Calla and PawPaw golfed through some Mayan temples...

The girls love playing in the kid town area. We bought several things at the local store, including a baby Calla...

We ended out visit with a trip to the toddler room...

Calla getting in some more cuddle time with her PawPaw...

MiMi with her two sweeties...

October Extras...

2010-11-07T19:08:00.000-08:00

Here are the girls matching Halloween dresses I made them....

Matching again in the glow-in-the-dark skeleton PJ's. Right after this pictutre they fell and hurt themselves on the bed. Glad the camera was fast for once!

Calla at her class party. She makes this silly face alot lately. This is the happy version. She also has a mad version where she tucks her chin down and furrows her brow. Hillarious!

This is Leslie's first choir performance...

Baby Nate...

2010-11-07T18:51:00.000-08:00

Two of the other great friends we have been blessed with this past year are the Swaringen's. Their baby, Nate, brings out the little mommy in both my girls. Leslie always want to hold him. Good thing he's an easy baby- he never cries. I think he likes it for a little bit anyways...

Calla loves him so much that she has renamed a baby doll" Baby Nate!" You have to watch her carefully if he's on the floor, but she's usually very sweet and easy with him...

Love Baby Nate. Sweet hugs...

I am so thankful that Nate's mom, Christy, is such a calm and confident mom. My girls are always all over her and the baby, and she never gets flustered or annoyed (or she doesn't show it anyways!) I think I was a bit more paranoid the first time around! It's nice to have friends that play with and love your kids, too.

New Enjoyments...

2010-11-07T18:35:00.000-08:00

Here is Calla eating another helping of corn rather than finishing her cookie...

Both the girls have enjoyed riding their bikes in the cul-du-sac in the evenings with Daddy...

Calla hiding...

She loves pushing her bike around almost as much as she loves being pushed on it!

We read to Leslie all the time as an infant and baby, especially before naps and bedtime. Calla has always gotten a bath and thrown in her bed as quickly as possible! At 20 months, I finally decided I could not pretend it didn't matter anymore. She loves reading books now! We usually get dressed before picking books out, but this night, she simply couldn't wait...

It's amazing how quickly she memorizes them. After a week of reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar every night, I caught her verbally reading it to herself one afternoon! Amazing.

She has also learned that if she doesn't finish a book, it really doesn't count. So, we get about 1/2 way through her last book, and she closes it, hops down, toddles over to her book shelf, and smiles mischievously saying, "a different one!" How can a mother say no? Reading an extra book at bed time is definitely a battle I'll let her win...

A Gospel of Abundance...

2010-11-07T16:46:00.000-08:00

Our church is currently working through a study called, Enough: Discovering Joy through Simplicity and Generosity. Barry is leading our Sunday School class and the Wednesday night class. We're always so pressed for time in Sunday School that we never finish the lesson, so several people have talked to Barry after class and struggled with the message. Our class is mostly college graduates, so there are multiple families that are pretty "well-off." The message is not give-away-everything-and-live-in-poverty, but is live within your means (or below) so you are able to live life more fully for God without the stress and sin that can accompany wealth.

So, as I'm sitting at the computer tonight vigilantly uploading pictures to blog, and I'm reading my book, The Good and Beautiful Community. The chapter I'm on happens to speak directly on being generous with not only your money, but your time, talents, and resources as well. I think the author, James Bryan Smith, does a great job of explaining the Enough principle and uses biblical references for support! Here is a very condensed version of the financial section...

False Narrative:
"God helps those who help themselves."
It is from an Edition of Poor Richard's Almanac, written by Ben Franklin in 1757. Franklin was not a Christian, but a deist. This judgmental narrative is a bulwark against generosity, a sturdy protection against the need to help those who are in need.

True Narrative:
God helps those who cannot help themselves.
God does help those who are able help themselves, but God also helps those who cannot help themselves. The Gospels are a Who's Who or helpless, broken, despised people, yet God helps them.

False Narrative:
If I give it away, then I have less.

True Narrative:
If we all share, we all have enough.
When the children of Israel wandered toward the Promised Land, they had no food. God provided food for them in the form of manna. God commanded them to take only enough for their own sustenance, and no more. They were told to measure how much to eat by using a measuring device, called an omer.

The Omer Principle shows that there is enough for everyone- but only when we take our fair share. Hunger experts tell us that there is enough food on the planet to end world hunger, but some consume more than they need. One night I was up late and watched an infomercial for a weight-loss program. For only $150 a month, I was told, I could lose a pound a day- only $5 a day. I switched channels and saw a relief organization commercial showing children with bloated stomachs, and was told that for $3 a day I could prevent a child from dying of hunger. The irony was not lost on me.

Of course, the Omer Principle is not meant to be mandatory or forced (as in communism). But when people arrive at the omer-like decisions (Gee, maybe if I didn't buy this I could give more to that) by the leading of the Spirit, much good comes. God designed a world where there is enough for everyone, as long as we take only what we need.

False Narrative:
What I have is mine to use for my own pleasure. (Entitlement Narrative)
If I start with the notion that what I have is mine, that I somehow earned it or deserve it, then I am entitled to use it any way I want. It falls under my discretion; I get to choose when, how and how much I give.

True Narrative:
What I have is God's to use for his glory.
Nothing I have is mine- it is all a gift from God. Therefore I must ask, "How shall I use the gifts you have given me?" This fundamental shift affects all of our daily decisions.

Generosity is an attitude, and inward disposition, that spawns acts of self-sacrifice, which is how God acts toward us.

A Theology of Enough
The idealization of poverty is one of the most dangerous illusions of Christians in the contemporary world. Stewardship- which requires possessions and includes giving- is the true spiritual disciple in relation to wealth...

In general, being poor is one of the poorest ways to help the poor.

A gospel of abundance is found only in the kingdom of God, where somehow we have what we need when we need it.

---------------------------------------------------

I wish I could go through all of that passage and count how many times the word "enough" is used. It is hard sometimes to sit back and think, I have enough. We buy our dream house, then think, well- we could use a nicer kitchen. We buy a new car, then think, well- we really could use a little more cargo space. It seems like every month there is a new way to move up the ladder. Think of how freeing and relaxing would it be to realize, I have enough. I understand that things get difficult and sometimes God feels distant in your struggles, but I encourage you to stop and think, I have enough.

Princess Calla... again...

2010-11-07T16:37:00.000-08:00

I tried Calla's Halloween princess dress on her for last minute alterations, and she was so stinking cute we had to take some pictures! I had this big memo board that I made for her room leaned up against the wall to hang, so we had her stand in front of it. I thought it made a prettier backdrop than a toy filled living room!

Ranch life...

2010-11-06T08:03:00.000-07:00

We are so very thankful for the new friends God has blessed us with over the past year. The Harrises have quickly become one of our treasured gifts! Daniel's family owns a huge pecan orchard south of Midland, and every year Monarch butterflies migrate through and cover the trees. When they came to town this year, the Harrises invited us out to enjoy it with them! They said this year wasn't as dense as usual, but to us, it seemed absolutely unreal. Most trees were empty, but if you kept on looking, you would find a tree that was completely covered with them! Then we could walk up and send them all flying and twirling around our heads. I thought those things only happened in the movies!

After the butterflies, we got a tour of the pecan sorting machine and other farm stuff. Then the kids favorite part... they got to feed the cows...

And to finish the perfect outing, all the kiddos got a ride on the 4wheeler...

Barry included...

We usually get together on Wednesday mornings for a play date with the Harrises and others. Calla had alot of fun toting Ethan around while he waited patiently for his turn...

Sleepy Time?

2010-11-06T07:50:00.000-07:00

Leslie has been fighting naps more and more lately, which would be fine if she would go to bed quickly at night, but she stays up singing herself to sleep for at least an hour every night! Anyways, I went put her back in her bed at nap time the other day and found all of her princesses with their skirts hiked up delicately balanced while riding their horses. I thought it was especially funny when I realized that under all that red mermaid hair was a naked Ariel riding behind Snow White...

Sweet girls cuddling in the morning...

Leslie reliving her childhood...

Another lazy morning...

This post makes it look like the girls lay around and watch TV in the pajamas all day, but I assure they don't! Our days are so early and busy Monday thru Thursday that I reserve Friday for our sabbath. We sleep in, and stay in our jammies, and don't feel guilty about it! I just wish Daddy could get a break too!

Gameday...

2010-11-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

We woke up the morning after our camp out/croup fiasco and cancelled our trip to Lubbock for the big Texas game. Leslie and Calla were supposed to stay with BFF, Maddie, but I wasn't comfortable leaving Leslie with anyone over night in case she had another attack. It was a difficult decision because Leslie woke up feeling and acting so well... wearing her pink Cowgirl hat while watching College Gameday! (And at the time, we thought Texas was actually a good team worth competing against!)

Calla saying "Guns Up!"

Probably against our better judgment, we left Calla with BFF, and packed up the nebulizer and meds and headed to Lubbock! Leslie did fine and always loves the games. And bonus, I actually got to watch most of the game!

Leslie eating some popcorn with her Uncle Ben before he lost his temper and started shouting profanities...

We're glad our gamble paid off and Leslie stayed well! We all had alot of fun and Calla did really well at her sleepover! We are very grateful to have friends that love our kids so much and that we can trust!

Pseudo camping...

2010-11-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

This year, the summer flew by, and we never had a chance for a proper backyard camp out. With cold evenings and shorter days looming, we decided to seize a weekend in September and at least make a memory! To begin our fun, we had a picnic in the living room floor...

Then, Daddy took both girls on an adventure walk through the neighborhood and to the park to find sticks, acorns, and other craftable trinkets...

Trying to make it feel more "camp-ish," Leslie got to climb a tree...

I think Calla did too, but obviously, Daddy had to stay holding on to her and couldn't get a picture!

Calla had to get to bed, but Daddy and Leslie stayed up and used the sticks they collected to make a bonfire in the backyard to roast s'mores...

Then they climbed into the secret tree house (where the bears couldn't reach them) to enjoy their treat...

Afterward, they made a tent in the music room and read books by flashlight before calling in a night...

I know it wasn't as professional as last year, but Leslie still enjoyed it, and like I said, it was a great memory!

Luckily Barry was sleeping with Leslie this night because she got a horrible case of croup. He woke up a couple hours later and noticed Leslie wasn't breathing well at all. He came and woke me up and we did all the medicine and treatments we could think of. She finally started to breathe a little better, so we put her in her bed and I spent the night on her trundle to monitor her. Guess I got to participate in the camp out after all!

September Extras...

2010-11-05T07:22:00.000-07:00

I went in search of a quiet Calla one afternoon and found her "reading" this book on Leslie's bed...

Calla has own sense of fashion... such as wearing crowns upside down. Can't argue with the princess...

I thought this picture was cool because it makes Leslie look like a ghost...

Septemberfest...

2010-11-05T07:05:00.000-07:00

We had some beautiful weather for Septemberfest this year, so we loaded up the girls (and their BFF Maddie) to have some fun. Leslie of course makes a bee-line to the face painting and balloons. I think she picks something crazier/scarier every time me go. Notice that the unicorn eye is actually Leslie's...

There were a bunch of crafts set up in the Kid's Korner. Even Calla got to make a visor and necklace...

I thought this was a funny picture. Somehow we managed to find the two tallest men in Midland to be friends with! It takes so serious giants to make Barry petite...

The girls played in all the jumpers several times of course...

Calla played in a regular moon jumper that wasn't too crowded, but her favorite activity was going down this gigantic slide...

Tech Game...

2010-11-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

The girls LOVE going to the Tech football games! My parents have a suite this year, so it makes everything more enjoyable for everyone. I've actually gotten to watch some plays this year! Both girls have learned that if they hang out with PaPa, they get infinite popcorn, so I usually don't have to do anything but diaper changes:)

The cheerleaders came up before one of the games and took a picture with the girls! Too cute...

My sweet little Red Raider...

This was after the game, so Calla was pretty tired, but still an okay family shot...

PaPa took a little time to throw the ball around with the girls while we were getting everything packed back up...

This was Calla before we hit the interstate. She was one tired little girl...

Time with Mam-maw...

2010-11-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

We have been fortunate enough to spend several days with Barry's grandmother the past few months. The girls love going there, especially Leslie who gets to refill bird feeders, or go down to the farm and pick food and then help shell it for dinner!

Mam-maw reading the girls a book...

The girls think this little cove down to the basement is their secret club house. Who knew two steps and landing could be so fun?

Leslie and Mam-maw sitting on the swing enjoying the cool morning...

Summer Sillies...

2010-11-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

We were invited to a birthday party for one of our close friends, Ethan. When the parents realized how hot is was going to be they sent out a swimming amendment to the invite that somehow got lost on its way to us. Luckily, no one (including Leslie) seems to mind my children swimming in their skivvies...

We went another party celebrating my great aunt Dene's birthday. It was in the nursing home, so there wasn't alot for the kiddos to do. Leslie and a cousin were playing hide and go seek to pass the time. When Calla decided to join in, I had to take a picture. It's hard to tell, but she's got her nose on the wall counting, "one two- ready or not here I come!"

Cute silly smile on a cute silly baby...

Cute funny face on a cute funny baby...

Here's the train cake I made for the party we attended. I tried to do something easy since it was a crazy weekend, but I think I don't think the time saved was worth the loss. Oh well. It tasted good and everyone still really liked it!

Random August Pictures...

2010-11-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

One of the girls favorite games is "flying." It was fun and cute when it was just baby Leslie. Not so fun now with almost 70lbs of cargo in flight...

Leslie has never been big on laying down in the tub until Calla started. She would sprawl out and yell, "Mermaid Calla!" Super cute. I have better pics of them both mermaiding out, but this is the only one web appropriate...

After documenting mermaids, I left the camera on the vanity. Leslie was trying to take silly face pictures to surprise me. Turns out her "silly face" is pretty beautiful...

County Fair...

2010-11-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

We always try to attend all the local things offered, so when we heard the Midland County Fair had started back up, we loaded up and headed to the Horseshoe. Overall, we were pretty disappointed with the activities and prices, but the petting zoo was top notch! Leslie loved getting to feed all the animals...

I'm constantly surprised how hardy baby chicks are. Leslie and Calla both got to hold and pet several...

Leslie feeding the alpaca...

I wish this picture was a little further out because then you could see that I have Calla completely upside down dangling down into the trough, so she could pet this guinea pig...
Even Calla got to feed the big animals...

We took Maddie with us, too. She is super nice well behaved little girl, but kinda a chicken around animals. As we were leaving I finally got her to feed this old blind toothless goat. What you can't tell from the picture is that my left hand has a vice grip on her elbow forcing it into the pin. Luckily, she is well enough behaved and trusted me enough that she was smiling when it was all though!

Of course, as all our outings, we ended at the jumpers. Calla was a little small to fight off the big kids, but Leslie and Maddie had all sorts of fun running from jumper to jumper... Or in this case, inflated human wrecker...

Friendly Blessing...

2010-10-31T09:06:00.001-07:00

Over the summer, we learned we were getting a new preacher at church. I didn't really care about the change until I learned they had a 4yr old little girl! Little girls are few and far between in this town, and I know Leslie is getting to the age where she needed a girl friend, so I went a little into desperate mode and became determined they were going to be our new best friends. Luckily, God heard my prayers, and when both the preacher and his wife got super sick, I answered the call to help watch Maddie. The girls became instant "BFF's!"

We spend the day doing all sorts of girly things from play-doh, to water colors, to tea party. It was a pretty hot day, so when Barry came home, we pulled out the water toys and let them splash around for a bit...

The big girls started playing some sort of around-the-world racing game. You can see Leslie is already turned half-way around by the time her feet touch down...

Then Leslie read her some of her favorite books...

The girls were thrilled to get to have a big girl sleepover. It was too cute watching them play House, School, and Princesses and listening to all the giggles and squeals that go along with little girls. They really enjoyed getting to take a bath in the big tub, too...

Barry read them books and then we both tucked them in. I had to go in Leslie's room a few times to settle them down, but it wasn't too bad. I figure staying up giggling is part of the fun of a sleepover!

In the morning they both cuddled up in the big chair together to watch TV...

We ended up watching Maddie most of the next day too, so after dinner, we went to "The Airplane Park." They ran around doing all sorts of things, but them helping each other across the balance beam was so sweet...

Even Calla got a turn...

Before we took her home, we stopped by the local yogurt ice cream stop to cool off...

Calla loves going to this place because it has a kiddie play area. She spends most of her time playing, but every couple minutes she runs back over to me asking for another bite. Her face reminds me of a little baby bird! tweet tweet...

Crazy Haired Calla...

2010-09-21T09:37:00.000-07:00

Time with Grandmommy and Papa...

2010-09-20T16:11:00.000-07:00

My mom and step-dad help us out by watch the girls for us some, but rarely do we all have time to get together and play. The girls love riding their scooters around their back porch. Here's Papa helping Calla...

Calla dunking the ball. "UH!"

Grandmommy reading to here princesses...

Calla got sweaty, so I made all of her curls stick out everywhere...

Animal Night...

2010-09-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

Every few months, the Petroleum Museum has family night where they open the whole place up and have a huge themed extravaganza! This time was animals! Calla loved getting to feel all the soft fur...

The ferret was silly...

Leslie loved meeting all the animals! I think it was pretty surreal for her because she knows a ton of facts about all these animal from watching Diego, but you could tell she thought it was pretty cool to see and touch them in real life...

One of the craft stations had an alligator puzzle to color and cut out. Of course, Calla wanted to make one too...

Regardless of whatever awesome tables they have set up, the highlight of the trip for Leslie is always walking through this permanent exhibit tunnel and ocean scene...

It was MEGA crowded, so we didn't last too long. Instead, we decided to swing by the old K-mart parking lot snow cones!

Calla showing Daddy her red tongue...

Everybody showing eachother our colored tongues...

To Princess Leslie...

2010-09-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

I came across a passage in one of the books I'm reading, "The Me I Want to Be," that spoke very strongly to me as a mother...

"Often people have dreams for their life when they are young, but over time they simply give up. Writer and artist Gordan MacKenzie tells of visiting children in kindergarten and asking them "Who is an artist?" Every hand shoots up. This decreases to half the class by third grade. Over time many find that becoming the me they were meant to be is too hard or that it takes too long. When we give up on our growth and life's purpose, we languish."

Even though I'll admit that Leslie is currently not the best artist... or dancer... or gymnast in her class, I never want to be the one that discourages her from developing to her full potential. So, today before nap I was cuddling on her some and asked her,

"Leslie, are you an artist?"

"Hahaha- yes mommy. I'm an artist."

"Do you know what an artist is?"

"Yes- a painter."

"That's right, and you are a very good painter. What else are you?"

"Ummmm... a princess."

The conversation went on for a while going over all the other things she is and enjoys. But I thought "a princess" really encapsulated it all. Today she can be a princess just as easily as she can be an artist. The world is still so full of possibilities for her. I pray that her spirit remains young and open to everything God has designed her to become. And that we all cherish this time of innocence and preserve it for as long as possible.

Swimming and Sports...

2010-09-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

Yet another pool day. These kids love the water!
Ever since Leslie watched the adults play volleyball at the family reunion, she's been obsessed with it. Her and Daddy practice all the time, and she's actually really good at it! (As long as you throw it perfectly.)

Ready!
Bump!

And follow through!

Finally, a cute little cheesecake picture of Leslie...

Accessorising...

2010-09-16T19:02:00.000-07:00

I know yall see alot of dress-up, but it's pretty much Calla's favorite activity. This day was especially cute because of her shoes. She ALWAYS wants to wear the princess high heals, but her foot is too small to keep them on. Today however, she figured that layering her shoes overcame this obstacle perfectly...
Nothing funnier than wearing Potato Head glasses! Except maybe the fact that her boobies are hanging out of this dress...

The green ones are beautiful too. Poor girl doesn't realize that her future probably holds many pairs of glasses:) I guess it's a good thing she likes them!

Mornings with Calla...

2010-09-16T18:37:00.000-07:00

When Calla first wakes up in the morning, she's usually pretty angry. It takes her a few minutes and gulps to get in a good mood:)

However, once she has her cup, she is a different baby. We really enjoy having a baby that will let us cuddle on her some! Here I am snuggling with her one morning while she wakes up with a cup of watered-down Crystal Light...
Daddy gets lots of snuggles, too...

I thought it was funny that she was sitting on the folded up nap mat on top of the ottoman watching TV. Rough life...
On a side note... She has started sliding off of the ottoman head first on to a pillow while yelling, "Mermaid Calla!" Hilarious.

Hair/Storm...

2010-09-16T12:02:00.000-07:00

This picture was cute when it was taken (a month ago) because it was one of the first times she had her hair fixed...
The girls love for Daddy to read to them...

Calla's hair didn't last long. At least I always get a good laugh at how it looks when she pulls it out...

Tonight had a nice summer storm. It was warm with distant rolling thunder, so the girls wanted to go outside and enjoy it. Us too...

It remind me of the evenings I used to spend on the patio as a child with my dad watching a storm roll in from Odessa... eating pork skins I'm sure. I think that was where my love of weather began! And now I'm passing it on to Leslie... who, by the way, already knows several cloud types:)

Houston visit/plague...

2010-08-31T14:29:00.001-07:00

We spent several days of July in Houston with my family. Of course, as soon as we got there, Calla got a horrible horrible horrible stomach bug, which she gave to Barry, and then Leslie got it our last day there. My family also shared it with several other family members. Since I'm not sure if we will ever be invited back, I figured I better post all the cute pictures we got in between sicknesses.

One of the favorite activities is playing with the silicone baking supplies my step-mother has graciously donated to the toy pile. You can nestle them, stack them, drink from them, or wear them as hats...

Leslie loved having so much attention and so many people around to play with her. Uncle Willy even used some vacation days to spend time with us! And she loooooooves her Uncle Willy!

The piano and organ are a magnet to young fingers! My brother, Zac, went to help hold (and supervise) his daughter, and Calla decided to climb right up, too!

It was cute seeing him old both the sweet girls and to see the girls actually playing together some...

Grammy likes to read to her sweet grandbabies...

On Monday, we went to the zoo! Daddy had to stay home with Calla because she had been up with "the sickness" all night and needed some rest. It was really hard for me to have Leslie because my family doesn't always realize that her top speed falls just above lolly gagging. Luckily, Uncle Willy came to the rescue and helped me carry her around quite a bit. She loooooooves her Uncle Willy...

Her and Uncle Willy stopped to take pictures at everything we past...

We visited the elephants at the perfect time and got to see them all getting their daily baths. It was very cute and astonishing to watch this baby elephant. It was running all around and trying to escape through every bar/opening he could find. He tried sticking his head through, then maybe start with a foot, then tried backing through all while running laps around his mom. Made me miss Calla:)

The zoo had a special dinosaur exhibit set up. Leslie wasn't too sure of it at first...

Once we convinced her they were entirely fake and not going to eat her, she warmed up to them...

It was so hot and humid while we were there! And the worst part was that there were scattered storms around most days, so we didn't get to the pool much. We finally made it one afternoon and got to swim for 40mins before they blew the whistle for thunder:( Such is life. We all had fun while it lasted!

On Wednesday, we went to the children's museum. And while it was really good, it was all a bit overwhelming for us from a small town. I discovered later that the crazy crowd was due to a special "make your own ice cream" exhibit that was going on that day (and we didn't even get to see!) At least we know that there is alot to go back for!

We ended up playing in the toddler section the entire time. Leslie likes baby toys best anyways:) Here's a picture of my beautiful niece, Kate, who is just a few weeks older than Calla...

A rare shot of the two girls playing together. Even Binx was having fun!

We ended up staying a extra day because Leslie got sick. It worked out well for the rest of us because we finally found time to crack open the watermelon Dad bought for us!

He didn't realize it was yellow when he bought it, and while it tasted really good, it was a little surreal eating it. I felt like my eyes were trying to trick me. Calla, obviously, had no trouble with the color change...

The allure of the piano is more than they could resist...

EVERY spare moment Leslie had, she would sneak off to the computer and "farm" for Grammy...

Of course we finally take a good family picture with both girls looking and smiling at the camera and it's the morning I decided not to wear make-up! Oh well- beggars can't be choosers...

Sickness aside, we had a really good time in Houston and hope we get invited back soon!

Summer Evening Bliss...

2010-08-20T19:05:00.002-07:00

We love lazy summer evenings. It's too hot to play outside during the day, so we usually go for a stroll up to the park or open up the back door and let the girls run around until bed time! Being as they both weren't wearing clothes, we decided this would be a more appropriate backyard day.

Calla's climbing ability (aka superpower) keeps us on our toes. We got this playground when Leslie was past 2. She couldn't climb the ladder on the back side of the swing set at all, so we decided to leave every other board off of the rock wall for her to use as a ladder. It was still difficult, but manageable for her.

Calla, on the other hand, could climb both the rock wall and ladder before she could walk! We tried taking the bottom board off to make that first step too big, but she has no trouble pulling herself up with the arms until she's up high enough to get her knee on the board! We tried to teach her that her climbing it was not allowed, but that was a horrible failure filled with screams and tears and too often, an early end to our play time. So, we finally gave in and resigned to "spotting" her on the way up should she fall. She rarely misses a step, but even when she does, her grip has always been strong enough to hold herself on and pull herself back up to a step. Now we just let her go for it, and hope that if she misses a step, her grip will hold until we get there. So far, our gamble has paid off...

Most parks we go to have extra long landings, so the kid doesn't come rocketing off the end of the the slide, but not the one at home. Calla has just recently learned to put her feet down at the end of the slide. She still "prefers" someone to catch her at the end. It's funny letting Leslie do it because "catching Calla" pretty much means Leslie standing at the bottom of the slide with her arms locked out straight at Calla. Seems like it would hurt one or both of them, but they always make it work and have lots of fun!

Sometimes, Leslie has to deliver various packages/buckets to different people via the slide...

Then there is clean up time with her beloved Ariel...

Funny Trains...

2010-08-20T19:05:00.001-07:00

The train set has made a comeback around the Brauchi household! Now that Calla is a little older and doesn't just want to destroy everything, it has become alot more fun! Barry has really made some amazing track set-ups for the girls to enjoy! He likes to take pictures of his favorites...

Leslie's great at helping find Barry the pieces and setting up all the necessary accessories such as guard rails for the down hill turns. Her primary function is, of course, conductor...

Calla thought this train set-up was the best thing since diced tomatoes! She laughed hysterically at it rounding the track...

Funny train...

"Did you just see that train go down the crazy hill? Hilarious!"

She was laughing so hard that she was seriously losing her balance...

Sometimes it's the simple things in life that bring babies the most pleasure...

And, finally, an areal view of the track with the little conductors...

When the humor had faded, the amazement still remained...

July 4th...

2010-08-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

I'm super bummed that I lost my camera before downloading our 4th of July pics because I had some great ones! Luckily, my friend took some cute pics that I can share with yall...

My beautiful firecracker...

We had two couples over for hamburgers, hotdogs, and of course, watermellon...

This is our friend, Ethan, who celebrated with us...

Later on, everyone but me and Calla (who was already in bed) went over to the backyard of our friends the Harrises (who happen to live right by the ballpark) to watch the only big fireworks show in town. Here the kiddos are playing while they wait...

We finally got to use some of the sparklers we still had from the wedding! Here's Ethan's mom, Kara, enjoying a couple while she waits...

Leslie made these super cute special "Fireworks Watching Glasses" in Sunday School that morning. So, of course, she had to put them on for the big show!

Once again, I'm really upset I didn't get our pictures uploaded. I would be alot more okay with people stealing my camera if they simply left the memory stick for me to have:(

For example, I don't have any pictures of Calla, and she was super cute! I made her a red, white, and blue tutu for her to wear to church. She's usually the only girl in her SS class, so I take full advantage of dressing her up! And she wants to wear a tutu most days anyways!

Friends have been hard for us to come by, so it was extra big blessing to have good friends with good kids, good food and good fireworks to help us celebrate!

Mash-ups...

2010-08-20T18:10:00.000-07:00

Calla LOVES playing dress-up! It is not uncommon for me to have to wrangle Calla on the way out the door and take off her 10 necklaces, 7 bracelets and tutu. Lately she has been experimenting with her accessories. I never know what she's going to come out of Leslie's room wearing! Here's a little montage I like to call "Mash-ups..."

Purple Flower Fairy

Dora Hip-Hop Princess Fairy

And finally, a Princess Fairy Construction Worker

After several changes, Calla even convinced Leslie to have some fun, too!

Bunny Cinderella Princess

I love my girly girl, Calla, and my sweet Leslie.

The other evening before baths I made Calla take off all her necklaces. She grabbed them with all of the strength her little hands had and started crying/screaming, "Noooooooo..... Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiine........." It was sad, but still made me laugh a little:)

Stormy Weather...

2010-08-20T10:31:00.000-07:00

Midland rarely gets calm summer storms, but with all the hurricanes rolling through Texas and Mexico, we actually had several mild days with rain this year. It's hard keeping everyone inside in the summer... especially when we didn't have school or anything else going on to get some energy out! So, Daddy came home from work one evening and told the girls to suit up! Calla was a little scared at first, but Leslie thought it was all sorts of fun...

Their favorite part was getting to go down the slippery slide. Daddy had to hold their hands to make sure they didn't go rocketing off the end...

Poor Calla just didn't understand why we didn't have the pools out, too. She kept walking over to the patio and trying to pull them out...

Leslie decided to be brave and tackel the slide solo a few times. She could stop her feet, just not the rest of her:) She fell out like this every time, but she kept going back for more...

And like all our outside adventures, Calla would simply rather swing...

"Fimming!"

2010-08-18T07:28:00.000-07:00

Calla took some Mom-and-tot "swim" lessons while Leslie did her lessons in the other side of the pool. I quickly discovered that Calla was made for the water! She loves swimming! Every time we pass the building she starts yelling, "Yea! Fimming! Yea! Fimming!" and laughing uncontrollably!

One of the things we work with them on is "turn-arounds." Theoretically, I'm trying to teach her to get back to the side of the pool should she fall in. Calla just thinks I'm swimming her around in a big circle! I can drag her underwater some and she does fine. She holds her breath well and doesn't mind getting all wet!

I thought her natural intuition/buoyancy in the water was amazing. She would put her arms over one of mine, and she naturally knew to layout flat to stay afloat. I could even just put arm floaties on her, and she could keep afloat by herself!

"Zoom to the wall" is always a fun activity. Calla learned to put her arms out and grab onto the wall. Most everything they try and teach at this age is getting back to the wall...

"Hey- put me back down and zoom me some more Mom!"

Guppy Lessons...

2010-08-17T17:09:00.000-07:00

Both the girls took swimming lessons for a couple weeks in June. I was so worried going into the lessons because we discovered at a Memorial Day cookout/swim party that Leslie had become deathly afraid of swimming since last summer. Her teacher was so great with her, though. Ms Jeanie knew when to push and when to praise (and she wasn't affected at all by Leslie's attempts to balk and cry!) By the end of the two weeks Leslie had finally remembered that she did, in fact, LOVE swimming...

She does really well hanging on to the side and practicing her kicks...

Happy girl...

She'll even dunk her head and blow bubbles!!!

She's supposed to be practicing her kicking here, but I think she's just enjoying a stroll around the pool via Ms Jeanie...

On safety day, Leslie wore a life jacket and practiced swimming out a big distance to her teacher and super fun things like jumping off the small and big diving board!

Her favorite part of safety day was the rope swing!

We plan on taking many more swim lessons this coming year, so she will be a confident and competent swimmer next summer! Yea Leslie!

Tricks and Treasure...

2010-07-09T11:55:00.000-07:00

We spent our last evening in Ruidoso exploring around the cabin where rumor has it, is alot of treasure! Everyone was really excited to head out see what we could find!

We had to be extremely careful because there were wild animals everywhere to protect the hidden treasure. Luckily, Uncle Barry/Daddy has great vision and saw the first animal hiding in the trees before it was too late. He had to point it out to all the kids so they would better know what to look for...

It was a bear! As huge as a tree! This one was pretty alarmed by our presence, but seemed fine as long as we kept our distance...

This is a picture Leslie took of one of the many "boody" traps that surrounded the treasure...

Then we met the most feared of all deterrents, a Wild North American Forest MiMi!

We were able to subdue it by getting all the kids to run up and scare it then smothering it with hugs! It was an ingenious tactic and worked perfectly. We didn't have to fear anymore animals now that the fearful MiMi was with us, but the booby traps were still abounding. All the kids kept sharp eyes and disabled countless traps along our treck home. Caden found the feared, "Neon Booby Trap." He picked it up and carried it with him until he reached a place where he could securely and safely dismantle it. Don't let his smile fool you- this was one of the biggest and worst booby traps we encountered...

With Caden's MacGyver like survival skills, and Cole's heart of a warrior, we made it home safely. Thank God for our strong little men...

And the family was safe and happy once again...

A Horse of a Different Color...

2010-07-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

Leslie took several exquisite pictures with her camera while at the museum. It's amazing how much better they turn out when she's outside!

She was once again drawn to the natural flora of the area. I thought these bright orange flowers with the dark stormy clouds as her backdrop seemed especially inspired...

She also took a lovely picture of her favorite MiMi! In her photography, she's even respecting the rule of thirds which I don't even think her Daddy has taught her yet...

Looking up at the giant horse head...

Here is a grey box, flag pole stand, and bench. I don't claim to understand all of her artistic choices.

Here we are all taking a picture of her taking a picture of us...

Part of Leslie's collection included several close-ups of the plaques surrounding the horses...

Everybody needs a crab hat some time...

Daddy must of had a massive headache from chasing Calla around...

One more picture of MiMi amongst the beautiful backdrop...

Giant Horses and Museum...

2010-07-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

Our adventure for our second day in Ruidoso included a trip to the Giant Horse Museum, aka Hubbard Museum of the American West. The girls were pretty happy to simply get a change of scenery and a new place to explore!

Outside of the museum is a collection of several giant horses. They really looked amazingly lifelike. It was funny to see the little girls next to them...

Luckily, they had a decent sized kid's area for the girls to play in. Leslie got to ride a horse...

The big one was a little scary for Calla, but she a found one a bit more her size to ride...

The kid's area was pretty elaborate. They had costumes for the girls to wear...

And a place for Leslie to cook us a snack over the open campfire...

Then it was time to load back in the wagon...

Once we got "home," Leslie was able to prepare a proper meal, clean wool, and tend to the baby in a cradle that was suspended from the rafters. Now "Rock a bye Baby" makes so much more sense to me!

Leslie played in this house for a long time. I'm glad MiMi was with us because I had no idea what alot of the tools and devices were they had to explore. My city education never covered an intense look into praire life. Furthermore, I've seen most Little House on the Praire's and don't remember them covering these aspects either!

The clouds had cleared off, so we took another lap around the giant horses and this time, Leslie and MiMi climbed the tallest mountain!

Day 2 Fun...

2010-07-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning was the best day Barry has had in a long time. He got to go play golf with his brother in "absolute perfect" weather. It was so pretty there in the mornings. The skies were clear and crisp, but not too cold, and simply being in the mountains with trees rustling and birds singing put us all in better moods!

Barry hardly ever plays golf, so he would of had a great time regardless, but getting to play with his brother was especially fun for him. It is rare that he finds someone to play with that he can beat without apologies:)

MiMi and PawPaw taking a rare break from all the action...

We also learned that Barry's love for Legos was passed down to both the girls...

Leslie took another picture of a Ruidoso bear(y)...

Ruidoso Revealed...

2010-07-07T06:07:00.000-07:00

We started to get a little cabin fever in the unchildproofed house by the afternoon, so we decided to take a trip into Ruidoso and shop around. We let Leslie take her camera to see what she found interesting. It slowed us down a ton, but it was cute to see her enjoying the sights so much! Her main focus of the trip was all the beautiful flowers outside the shops...

Her camera has a feature with crazy pictures on it. So, you think she's just taking a picture of you until you download the camera to the computer. Then, surprise...

Daddy needed some glasses...

Calla too...

Oh man! She clown faced me!

Barry and I really love these next two pictures. We imagine them as being some of those specific artistic choices I talked about earlier. Sculpted bears are on EVERY doorstep in Ruidoso, and she captured a great picture of the town's essence. I love this picture of the big bear taken from her angle. Cute and creepy all at the same time...

I think I need to print this one to display somewhere...

The funniest part of this picture is that she didn't even know what it said:)

First day Extras...

2010-07-07T05:57:00.000-07:00

There were several very friendly deer around our cabin. You could tell they were used to all the commotion. They would let the kids get about 5ft away before they'd scamper off! These two had a trail they followed that went right over the driveway, so we saw them several times over the weekend...

We already had the grill hot for steaks on Saturday night, so we went ahead and took advantage of it and roasted s'mores...

Leslie's shot of the doggy door...

Leslie's shot of the Daddy...

Leslie's shot of the toys abandoned inside for more fun outside...

From Leslie...

2010-07-06T18:52:00.000-07:00

It was surprisingly fun how much we all enjoyed Leslie taking pictures. She takes pictures of EVERYTHING, but seeing how she takes them is very insightful. Barry likes to think of each of her pictures as specific artistic choices and thereby fully validating each interesting picture.

These are all pictures for the Saturday morning discovery walk taken with Leslie's camera. Here is proof of the friendly deer...

These were the flowers that the butterfly was sitting on. I love that from her angle, these flowers look giant! I often forget how little she still is...

Cole found a beat up pine cone that was not only worth picturing, but also keeping...

An example of artistic choice. This picture I imagine is a commentary on the cost of modern conveniences at the flora's expense...

And here's a big rock with a puddle. Cool...

I think Holly probably took this picture, but here is a better shot of the caterpillar...

Uncle Barry's kinda crazy, but the kids think he hung the moon. Not sure what the prompt they were given here. Caden looks like he's in full Justin Bieber posing with bat, Uncle Barry looks to a cross between pirate and hype man, and then Leslie... just her go-to pose of crying/hiding...

Ruidoso Discovered...

2010-07-06T14:12:00.000-07:00

Barry's parents were very gracious and brave (and maybe a little crazy,) and invited us and his brother's family to spend the weekend with them in Ruidoso. After a long drive, and some minor melt downs from baby Hulk, we made it there Friday by dinner. First thing Saturday morning, the kids and men folk set out on an adventure to scout out the surrounding grounds and document what flora and fauna were available. Here's the first good find... a big yellow butterfly...
You can see on the right that Leslie took her own camera as well. More on that later...

Here is Leslie with her cousins, Caden (5) and Cole (6 1/2). The boys were our primary protector and defender throughout the weekend...

PawPaw is pointing out a great find for our bug collection...

A beautiful green caterpillar! Caden was able to extract it from its habitat for further examination...

This purple flower box was our science laboratory for the weekend. The kids collected and released several specimens over the course of our trip.

A group picture of Caden, Leslie, Cole and Holly...

Hot Summer Night

2010-07-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

We have had such an incredible hot summer so far. Barry came home from work last week, we ate dinner, then checked the weather... it was still 102 outside! So we decided to get the pools out. It was even hot enough for mommy to play!

Of course, no outside-time would be complete for Calla without some good swingin'. Daddy sat the sprinkler up under us so we could stay cool while we swung...

I always think Calla's so skinny because I remember Leslie being so fat! But, I think Calla's belly could definitely compete... especially when shown in a bikini!

We actually have a lot more pictures of this night, but Leslie decided to take her swimsuit off to help warm herself up, so they aren't exactly world wide web appropriate! We played outside in the water until it was time to come in and get ready for bed! Hot summer night indeed...

Summer Times...

2010-06-24T19:49:00.000-07:00

We have already had a great summer break! We took a break for the end of May and were just lazy... then bored. But with June came many fun activities.

Leslie went to Princess School the first week at the local Ballet Studio. They watched a movie, danced, and did a craft everyday. She had so much fun! And at the end of the week I told her she was ready to become a princess, but to do that, she either had to marry a prince or have Daddy buy her a kingdom. She ran over to Barry, wrapped her arms around him and said, "Oh yes Daddy! Will you buy me a kingdom?"

The second week was filled with Vacation Bible School at church. They had a High Seas Adventure! She loved getting out of the house and playing all morning. Here are some shots from her program. She loves singing with hand motions!

This is most likely our one fruit from the garden this year. Best I can figure, it's just too hot to grow anything. Next year I'll have to get an earlier start. We cut this tomato up and gave it Calla. I thought she would enjoy the most out of all of us, and she did, except it just wasn't enough!

Mommy and Daddy took Leslie to her first movie in the big theater to see Toy Story 3! She was so excited and loved having the massive bucket of popcorn on her lap...

About 20 minutes in, she started crying saying she wanted to go home. We made it to the end, but will not be going back any time soon. This Toy Story was much more dramatic, action-filled (scary), and sentimental than the previous two. So any time the toys got in trouble or hurt or cried, Leslie would break out her tears for them, too. I told Barry afterward that I shouldn't be surprised she got so emotionally involved in the movie because one of Dad's favorite stories about my childhood was watching the movie Willow on TV with me... I got in a huge tizzy the entire way through worried the bad guys were going to get the baby. Leslie's personality turns out to be more and more like mine everyday!

Calla's favorite toy and word lately is "crown." She LOVES this crown of Leslie's. She carries it around all day playing with it. She's even learned to ask for "help" when she can't get it on the right way. Last Sunday, Barry let her wear the crown in the car on the way to church. We took it off for Sunday School, but as soon as we got back into the car, "Crown?" The poor girl doesn't get a morning nap on Sundays, so she almost always passes out on the way home. Here is HRH Calla is with her royal "cup-ay," "ssss-ck, "p-ceee," and "cr-ow-n."

And of course, Leslie needs her picture taken as well with her little diva pose...

Weekend Highs...

2010-06-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

We found a new park in town that is a ton of fun! The girls and I had been there a couple times, but we finally found a time for Daddy to go with us. And with Daddy there, Leslie was able to climb all the way up to the top of the big rock wall! She was super proud of herself! It's a big deal anytime my cautious child has the bravery to do something new and outside her comfort zone! Calla, on the other hand, will probably be able to climb this next week:)

Our second "high" of the weekend was that Barry ran the sound for the Contemporary service at church Sunday morning! Our Contemporary service has alot of... problems, so Barry finally decided that he could offer his expertise running sound and let them worry about one less thing. He got his name in the bulletin and everything! He was trying to act nonchalant about it, but I made him pose for a picture with the bulletin. Unfortunately, he decided to be a butt and make a sassy face...

I told him he wasn't leaving until he smiled pretty. Here's my big boy with his name in the bulletin...

And a close-up on the actual bulletin with his name...

Baby Fairy Dress-up...

2010-06-17T18:33:00.001-07:00

I have the cutest little girls! Calla LOVES playing dress up every chance she gets! She really wanted to wear the Cinderella dress this morning, but it's still way too big for her. I dug out this extra poofy tutu and she seemed appeased. As you can see, she also wanted to wear the wings. Sissy was nice enough to help her accessorise...
Cute Baby Fairy...

Most of our shoes are kept in the laundry room, but she found some Crocs that were left out from swimming and brought them to me. I had to aid HRH Calla with her slippers...

And of course, no Baby Fairy Princess would be complete without a wand...

This is my favorite age. I'm trying to treasure every beautiful moment without obsessing that it passes by much too fast.

Dancing Redeemed...

2010-06-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

As I hoped for, Leslie's dance teacher was more than willing for me to bring her up to the studio and go through her dance number for us to see. I gave Leslie the option of dressing up again or just wearing her regular leotard, and to my delight, she chose to wear her Cuddle-up Cub costume! Here she on her way to the studio for "take 2."
I'll try and post the video later (if Blogger will let me!) but here are some cute snap shots I got during the dance...

Here she is doing her boogies...

And a few tapping stomps...

Ms. Chelsie was so sweet to go through it all with her...

We haven't decided if we're going to try dance again next year. We're definitely taking the summer off to rest and re cooperate! I was glad we got a second chance to see our sweet girl perform! And I'm sure we got the best pictures of all the parents!

Water Sillies...

2010-06-09T18:20:00.000-07:00

Calla has finally decided she likes the water! Even more than her swing!! Last week we got to have our first big splash time with Daddy. He even broke out the new water guns! Leslie and Barry ran all around squirting each other. Calla was happy standing in her little wading pool trying to avoid crossfire waving her water gun at the others...

She really liked stomping and splashing the water big...

After the water war, Mermaid Leslie decided to take a break in Rainbow Lagoon...

Barry was re-filling the little pool, and Calla decided she wanted to walk underneath the hose! Crazy baby... she just kept on doing it. She thought it was hilarious!

"Now my hair's wet, too! Weeeeeee"

Then, we set up the sprinkler. Once again, while Leslie avoids direct spray like the plague, Calla walks right up to the sprinkler and sticks her face in it! Again and again...

She had a blast! Cute sweet baby. We love the long nights and simplicity of summer...

Daddy swimming with both his girls...

We laugh that getting this picture was surprisingly easy because with Leslie wearing goggles, you can't tell she's looking off somewhere all crazy eyed. Maybe we should use the goggles in more pictures, water or not...

Ummmm...

2010-06-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

It's a good think my girls have lots of energy and a fast metabolism because they like to eat! Leslie's newest addition to her table fun is this Wolverine cup...

One meal last week she asked Barry, "Daddy? Why does Wolverine look so angry?" Barry, having already identified which frame in which comic book this was taken from (Astonishing X-Men Vol. 1,) went on to explain that he was mad because he was having to fight Ord (the ambassador from planet Breakworld) because he was trying to destroy Earth because of the prophesy that Colossus was going to destroy Breakworld in the future. "Oh okay."

Leslie and I made cupcakes for one of my friend's birthday last week. Leslie's getting so good at following directions and reading the fractions. Practical learning! Of course, she just does it for the beater...

She said she got some in her mouth. I'm not so sure...

Calla usually gets a chunked up banana for her bedtime snack, but tonight I gave her the whole thing. Her eyes light up like Christmas morning! "Na-nee!!!"

And Leslie got enjoy the fruits of her labor for her snack...

"Ah deed eh!"

2010-06-05T19:44:00.000-07:00

I've finally started trying to get Calla to use utensils to feed herself. Leslie was a natural and could feed herself yogurt and oatmeal by her first birthday. Calla is usually too hungry and impatient to actually take the time to learn. Up to now, at best, I could give her a spoon to dip some between me feeding her bites. She did really well this night feeding herself yogurt, but still hates any help or tips I try to give her. She's been eating her bites upside down like a Popsicle, but this night she had everything figured out and working well...

"Ah deed eh!"

("I did it!" for those of you who don't speak Calla)

And just like that, I'm one step closer for me to being able to eat a hot meal again...

Red Letter Family Fun...

2010-06-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday night was a red letter day at the Brauchi's! We had the entire extended family over for dinner, and then, all migrated outside to enjoy the beautiful weather and beautiful girls! We got the bubbles out, and both girls spent a long time chasing, popping, spraying, stomping, and showering in them...

Then we broke out the watermelon! It was a really juicy and sweet one! We weren't sure quite how Calla was going to eat it, but before we could decide, she picked a piece up and started chomping away. I think she figured it out pretty well...

The camera was being super slow, so we missed all the funny faces she was making. She was really excited, but at the same time, completely focused...

Leslie went after hers like a little piggy, too...

I think this is piece #2 for Calla. The kid can EAT!

Afterward, Leslie got stripped down and hosed off...

Alison was taking the pictures. She was nice enough to wait until Leslie had her britches back on to take any pictures:) All clean!

Calla??? Still eating...

Then she got hosed off, too...

And what outdoor time would be complete without a little "Marvelball?" (A game Barry, Will and Ben invented when we first moved in.)

Keeping with Calla's life themes, if she's not eating, then she's swinging...

We finished the night with a little baseball. We used the big playground ball, but Leslie still did extremely well! And more importantly, had a lot of fun!

Action shot...

It's hard to tell from the picture, but this is Barry teaching her how to bunt...

What a great summer evening spent with family eating watermelon on the back porch. Isn't this what life is all about??

Baby graduation...

2010-06-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

We thought we'd never make it! But alas, last Friday my baby brother graduated high school! It was actually nice that it was on Memorial day weekend because Willy got to fly down and spend some time with the family...

Alison and Jordan also graced us with their presence! Here the whole generation is together minus Richard...

Ben is planning on staying in town next year and attending Midland College but living in the dorms. He has several friends that are staying in town, and we all think it's a good step for him. Way to go Benji!

End of Year Performance...

2010-06-03T07:27:00.000-07:00

Leslie was finally in the older group of classes this year and got to participate in all the songs for the end of the year performance. Getting pictures was crazy hard. They had us all packed in the room like sardines which made getting a clear shot of your kid impossible. I snuck this one in before the program actually started...

She did a great job with the singing and all the motions that go along with it.

They got to use shakers on the last song. A favorite for all the kids!

Rockhounds...

2010-05-30T06:43:00.001-07:00

We went to our first Rockhounds game of the year to watch Barry's niece, Holly, cheer before the game started. Calla kept on running off, so finally, cousin Cole just decided to pick her up to contain her. Here he is carrying my little Gravy Boat...

Holly was so excited to be out there on the field with all the big girls! They did a great job!

"Pop-eye" Leslie and Cole...

I entertained Calla by letting her climb in and out of the chairs. The kid loves to climb...

Celebration of the Arts...

2010-05-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

We try and take advantage of the local events we have here. They're never anything extravagant, but the crowds are always light and the girls have a fun outing. We took the girls to Celebration of the Arts a couple weekends ago. The highlight of every such event is face painting and balloons. Leslie opted for a butterfly this time...

Calla could not figure out what was going on with this big blue-haired zebra painting Sissy's face. She wasn't scared, but she stared at her like this the entire time...

You can understand why...

Leslie was so very happy with her butterfly face. She even got sparkles down the body of it! Always the creme de la creme...

One of our friends had a booth set up teaching about printing, so Leslie got to help turn the wheel and print a pretty little flower picture...

We got a ladybug balloon for Calla. She thought she was so special! She waved it around and tried to hit people with it who stood too close. You know- basic naughty baby stuff...

There was this huge greyhound roaming around trying to raise money for the local greyhound rescue. At the shoulders, it was taller than Calla! And it had black stripes all along it's back. It looked more like a tiger than a dog! But Calla, staying with her personality, had no fear. She walked right up to it and pet it. Then it laid down, and Calla turns around and starts backing it up to sit down with it! No fear. She sat down and the dog curled around her without any problem. The bigger surprise was that Leslie was willing to get some what close to it! Cute girls! Great dog!

Calla's favorite part of the entire day was dancing to the live Blues Band. We put her down and she sprinted off toward the stage stopping occasionally to stomp her feet and bounce her bum...
(Sorry I couldn't get the video to upload. I'm sure Barry will include on the next DVD)

Dancing Sorrow...

2010-05-29T18:36:00.001-07:00

I'm sure most of you have heard the story of Leslie's dance recital, but I wanted to show you all the before pictures and how excited and beautiful she was leading up to the incident.

Here she is Saturday morning watching TV while Grandmommy rolls her hair...

She played like this all morning. It was really cute to watch those curlers flap around...

She's a big scaredy-cat for a lot of things, especially blow driers or curling irons, so we let her play her Leapster video game while we fixed and curled her hair...

A monkey face from my sweet Cuddle-Up Cub before we left the house while Mommy and Grandmommy tied bows on shoes...

I'm so very glad we stopped to take a picture of us together before we left the house. She was so amazingly beautiful...

She was extremely excited about her performance. As you can see, she was smiling ear to ear all the way there...

And then tragedy struck... We dropped her off, and as she was walking to her seat, she slipped on her tap shoes and fell straight on her bum and elbow. After a long time of holding, and crying, and ice-ing, we finally realized this was more than hurt feelings. So I texted the family who was in the audience watching the show that we needed to pack up and head to the hospital. She wanted to feel better and dance so bad! I was sad for both of us that she was going to miss it.

She's getting so big that she's more comfy on her daddy's lap. He held her almost the entire ER visit...

After a couple hours in the ER, she was sent home with only a sling. Her x-rays didn't show a break, but because of the swelling amount, the orthopedic surgeon thought it was probable that she had a fracture. We gave her the flowers we got for her performance when we got home, and that at least put a smile on her face...

And a final picture of Daddy with his favorite Cuddle-up Cub...

I'm still so upset and disappointed that she didn't get to perform her dance. It's so much bigger than missing a t-ball or soccer game. She's been working toward this one goal since September, and she missed it by 1 hour. Several times she has apologised to us for hurting her elbow and promises that she "won't fall on her tap shoes and hurt her elbow at her next recital at Lee High School." It makes me tear up to explain to her that that experience is lost.

Hopefully, once dance starts back up for the summer, I can at least get her teacher to go through the dance with her so we can see it. I originally thought I would simply have her wear her regular leotard for it, but I think she might like getting all dolled up again and trying to gain some resemblance of what she missed. I guess I'll ask Leslie when the time is closer. Stay tuned for video of her private performance...

Ologies...

2010-05-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

The Petroleum Museum has a HUGE kids night 4 times a year. We decided to take Leslie to this one about "ologies." She learned about astronomy, biology, geology, climetology, nephology, petrology, brontology, campanology, phrenology, and many more! Here she is at the horology station making a sun dial with Daddy...

They had so many exhibits! We didn't even get to half of them. Several of them were a bit too old for her, but she's good about accepting help. Here she is after the lepidopterology

showing off her beautiful butterfly...
And the highlight of the event was, of course, the milk and cookies at the end...

Friend Fun...

2010-05-28T13:49:00.001-07:00

Our friend, Parker, spent the night with us a couple weeks ago. It was so hot, that I climbed in the attic and got all the water toys for the summer....
Leslie had alot of fun. Parker had fun for a while...

Calla? Well, she just wanted to swing...

We did alot of super hero time. Parker was initially a little upset that he was having to stay with a girl... until he remembered she had Hulk gloves...

They did pretend play a ton! It was really fun to watch/listen to because Leslie has never been real good at it, but Parker is a pro. Here they are flying to New York after fixing several meals for there friends who will be here soon...

Calla, as you can see, chose to drive:)

A Blessed Day...

2010-05-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

Today (Wednesday) has been a blessed day. The bible study Barry and I are going through has different "Soul Training" exercises for us to do each week. This week's study is on lust, and since so much of our world is overflowing with unGodly sexuality, our challenge this week is to go two full days without media (TV, music, computer.)

Now the girls are not in the bible study and are allowed media. However, I like to think most of the things they watch are not horribly racy, but I know the commercials are not sending a good self-image message. So, unless I needed the TV to babysit while I did something in another room, the TV has stayed off.

The day started off awesome and never stopped. I got up a little after 8 and had a chance to start getting ready and read some before the girls' chaos started. Calla woke up a little after 9 and Leslie slept until 9:30. So, I figured Calla was not going to fit 2 naps in today, and decided that we would try and make it to playgroup. It was a great way to occupy my time and take my mind off of my TV addiction. Playgroup ended up to be a picnic lunch at a park which was lots of fun. Leslie was social, and played well, used her manners and minded great! Calla, like always, was just happy to be outside. She tried climbing up all the ladders that are much too big for her. Then, she decided to try her luck at just going up the slides. She does surprisingly well for a baby! After lunch, a couple of school buses full of elementary students rolled up, so we decided to head out. It was getting hot and both girls were tired anyways.

We came home and had some ice water and read books while we cooled off. Then Calla went to bed. Leslie and I read a couple more books then I let her watch a little TV while I took a little power nap! Then Leslie went off the bed.

Our "media silence" is supposed to include the computer, but my group isn't real legalistic about things, so I decided that checking the weather, reading only personal emails, and working on my own blog while the girls were asleep was okay. I don't think there is anything lustful is those 3 activities. Although, on weather.com, the girl in a bikini dancing around the ad for home refinancing does just generally piss me off.

Then when Calla woke up, we had a friend from church and her son stop by for a short while to play and visit!

Then Daddy got to come home early because he had a follow-up on his eye. (Everything looks good and the doctor got all the holes)

Then we played outside some more with Daddy before going to Home Depot and getting garden supplies.

Then, the Brauchi's made a triumphant return to Rosa's! Oh- how I missed you!

Then, we all went to the old K-mart parking lot and had some great snow cones!

We came home, played outside some more, had a snack, took baths, and went to bed.

It has been such a great, busy, productive day. I love getting to have adventures and make memories with my girls. I really loved having them sleep in and getting to start my day at a little slower pace. I loved having the TV off and limiting the computer. I loved actually getting out and doing things and seeing people! Truly a blessed day...

This is the day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!