Such a helper!

Sophia is SUCH our good little helper! She and Daddy put together a book shelf and she was his right hand man, putting screws in and hammering. 

They are quite the capable team and had that bookshelf together in no time! Eric actually drew it out as to prolong the fun they were having. :)

Mama's bathrobe

So almost every morning, I put on my bathrobe upon waking and with Soph on my hip, head to the kitchen to make her oatmeal, start my coffee, and make Eric's lunch. Occasionally Sophia will ask to wear it after I've taken it off to change for the day. She is so cute, hardly able to move without tripping. It is sweet how much she wants to be like Mama & Daddy. A good visual reminder to me that what I say and do is oh-so important, always making an impression (good OR bad) on little eyes & ears!

PS if you look closely, under the bathrobe, she is wearing her boots from a previous post. :)

sweet memories to keep

Every day Sophia does things and says things that I don't want to forget. I am not often good at getting it down "on paper" (blog in this case), but there are a few things she has done that I want to make sure I can read later.

1) When we were on our way down to FL to visit Maria, Sophia's ears started hurting on our descent. She started crying and pulling at one in particular and I did my best to comfort her and coax her into taking drinks of water to relieve pressure. I pulled the puffs out (which we never have on hand at the house any more but I bought as a special travel snack since she still loves them) and told her to try one, that it would help her ear feel better. She so trustingly proceeded to take one from my hand and stuff it in the hurting ear. She looked back at me with the expression on her face, "Mom, this is NOT helping!!!" I couldn't help but start cracking up and how cute she is - she did exactly what I instructed. Thankfully as soon as we landed, she was fine and other than those 15 min, she enjoyed sitting with me on the flights up and back.

2) I will quite often comment on how sweet she is, that I can't handle how cute "Cici" is (Sophia's self-given nickname), and I'll ask her, "who's the cutest/sweetest/most beautiful girl in the whole world??" and then I'll say "SOPHIA is!" well on one occasion, I asked her, "who's the cutest in the whole world??" and sophia exclaimed with a beaming smile, "MAMA!" and I melted.

3) She loves Marzell and chases him around the house with her hand resting on his back (occasionally gripping fur if he is moving quickly) She is being gentle but Marzell isn't the biggest fan understandably... it looks like she is a horse trainer with a reluctant participant. :) If he even gives her a warning tap (he has only scratched her skin once since we try to keep her away from him safety wise), she will get her feelings VERY hurt and cry hard even if it was just a tap of his paws or threat. We frequently tell her the kitty needs a break and if you mention a break in any other context, she will bring him up by meowing.

4) she loves to run naked through the house (or at least diaper less). super normal for kids, also super entertaining. it is hard not to take unlimited pictures of her cute little dimpled bottom!!

5) she doesn't like messes and keeps me accountable! if there is a spill or marzell leaves a mess or i mean practically a stray crumb, she will point and say 'uh-oh, uh-oh' until it is a) acknowledged b) cleaned up even if she has to try to take matters into her own hands. not to say our house is spotless AT ALL but she does keep me in check with obvious messes

6) although it is getting less and less, Sophia has gone through a phase where the sound of a truck, loud van, mail truck, UPS, garbage truck, etc passing out on the street is scary and will run into my arms for safety. We go look out the window so I can show her it is outside on the street, but the loud noise and usually squeaky brakes seem to unnerve her. I don't want her to be afraid per se, but a fear of traffic/cars or at least an awareness isn't a bad thing in my mind

7) conversely, if an airplane is overhead, even if we are inside, her eyes widen with excitement, she points to the sky and yells airplane! "AIRPANE!" she absolutely loves airplanes, airports, and anything to do with them. I counted that she has been on 20 different flights at 20 months old so maybe it is an exposure thing :)

8) She is in LOVE with the moon "moon", stars "dar", and sunshine "shunshine" these days. If it is day time, she points out the sunshine, if it is cloudy, the sun is at work "wwwwork", and the stars & moon are "night, night". she knows that if it is night, the stars/moon are out and tries to find them and the sunshine has gone "night, night". it is fun having her so interested in exploring nature

9) When asked where Daddy is during the day, he is at work "wwwwork" - really draws the w sound out. She also cocks her head to the side and says it with a frown/furrowed brow. Now, whenever anyone or anything is out of sight, it is at work.

More later....just a few I had to catch before I forget and everything changes so quickly....

Pigtails & Boots

Sophia's hair has really gotten long - I am finally starting to do fun hair-do's with it! As long as I have Elmo on, she is content to sit and let me mess with it....braids, pigtails, pony tail, half up, etc.

AND as I pulled out her winter shoes, she instantly fell in love with these rain boots! they are still way too big but it does not deter her from putting them on (usually the wrong feet) and wearing them around the house! We have let her wear them outside in the rain and I know they will come in so handy as her feet grow into them! Thanks for letting us borrow them, Aunt Tiffany! :)

Fall Global Celebration - Popeye visits!

Eric and I have had a full week at our church's global missions conference the past 9 days. We were so blessed by being part of it.... this year as MISSIONARIES! Most of you are well aware of the fact that we are raising support to serve at Black Forest Academy in Germany starting fall 2013! We are so excited and this week confirmed a lot for us. Though it isn't really up and running yet, our ministry blog will be shillingsatbfa.blogspot.com - stay tuned for updates beginning soon!

While I was at meetings during the day (and Eric was at work), Sophia got to hang out with Popeye! She LOVED being with him and was sad to see him go home on Thurs! Popeye has a way of bonding with each of his grandkids and it is so special to see their relationship deepen with each visit. Here are a few pics at the park together. I didn't get too many pictures this visit because most of his time was her was sans Mama! She went to him with open arms and not looking back, which made it stress-free for me to be away. Thanks for all the fun times and special treats this week, Popeye!

Happy Halloween from our little lioness!

Sophia had SO much fun trick-or-treating this year! We went with some friends this year - Sophia learned the ropes from "Dorothy" who is 5 yrs old. :) I'm not normally a halloween fan at ALL but I have to admit I had a lot of fun this year! 

 I added a big pink bow to her "mane" so everyone would know she was a girl lion :) She picked out the pink pumpkin bucket herself and would not let go even when it got so heavy that she had to drag it behind her. :)

 I love her little grin to her friend, J, like "is this the best night or WHAT? this is going to be awesome!"

 anyone noticing me sneaking a little taste between houses?

she was VERY excited about all her treats and proud of all she had accumulated and Mama was proud that she politely said thank you at each house! I have to document and admit that we were the parents who only let her have ONE treat on the way home (and even then, Mama selected a mini bag of pretzels! how cruel!) but the next morning, I did let her pick a sweet treat and she thoroughly enjoyed a little gummy hamburger (of all things to pick?) She has a few items left in her bucket that periodically we will revisit.... :) Eric and I have enjoyed a few pieces ourselves too...

Laundry basket fun

Sophia has adopted the laundry basket as a multi-purpose space to play in. She sits in to read books, take rides through the house, and plays in it with her stuffed animals.

 It is amazing how many things turn into her favorite toys that are regular household items!

Making Forts with Daddy...

Sophia loves making and playing in forts with her daddy! Here they turned her bed into one... you can see her peeking out in the second photo and though the third is blurry, it captures her joy so well. :)

Stylin'

More Summer Pics

 She LOVES catching rain water from the drain pipe into this metal bowl. Even on sunny days, she'll sit there, asking for water to come out. :)

Also - news in our household - Marzell has become an indoor-outdoor cat!! It was awesome and we have wondered why we waited 6 years to let him out! However, after being left out (though we tried to call him in!) overnight in a thunderstorm w rain and being chased the next day by loose neighborhood dogs, he refuses to venture back out. And those incidents were about a month ago...so the whole outdoor thing lasted about 3 weeks max. Bummer since it was nice to see him enjoying the fresh air. Oh, and he would hardly leave our yard - so nice! He would just lounge on the porch, walk around the yard, contemplate how to get up our trees to the squirrels... maybe he will gather the courage one day to go back out.

And we're back....

after several weeks on blog hiatus, I am back and will pick up with life where it is now....

This is homemade sidewalk paint...aka cream of tartar, water, and food coloring (thank you Pinterest). Amazing how simple it was to do but how long it entertained Sophia outside!

 She decided to venture from painting the porch to her hair, legs, belly....then why not give it a taste?

 She loves going over and picking cherry tomatoes right off the vine from the garden. This is my old garden and though I didn't plant anything in it, it still had a few "volunteer" plants come up from last year.

Summer Fun!