Random Pictures

I found this leave in the grass today. I thought it was strangly early to have fall colors showing up. It's pretty, none the less!
Emily with bed-head. Still happy as can be.
This was taken a few days ago. What is the fascintaion with kids and mud puddles? They just can't resist! Besided the fact she was getting wet and dirty, I didn't see the harm. She was having a great time! Thank goodness she didn't FALL in it!
Emily squeels and laughs, all while crawling through the house. She is such a happy child! I would have thought she would have been content with crawling for a awhile, but......

now she is climbing, and pulling up, and wanting to walk. She's still not very well balanced when she's on her feet, but she does have the steps down. It goes too fast!

Take a trip to the beach with us...

Matt getting his 11 meter kite ready. Mya getting ready to use it as a trampoline.
Matt is launching a fellow-kiteboarder's kite. That was what I was doing when the kite came at me and knocked me down. A bit scarey... the force that comes at you!
Emily wasting no time on the sand toys.
Mya dances with joy on the beach.
She borrows my sunglasses to keep the hair out of her eyes so she can see. It was 30 mph winds.
Emily finding pure bliss in coming-and-going as she pleases.
Proof of her snacking.

Sharing some fishies in the warm and wind-free tent.
Getting sleepy....
Matt in the water, on the board, and flying his kite! It's quite a task to get to this point.
No boat needed.... just wind! You can ride for hours in the right conditions.

We had been keeping an eye on wind conditions all week. Sunday was the perfect day to take Matt's kites to the beach. We headed to the early service at church so that we could be in Canada early. We wanted to have the whole afternoon available to spend at the lake. It was really windy! I brought Mya's little tent so that the girls would have shade and shelter, and a place to rest. What a great asset that was! Once the girls were settled, Matt needed me to help him "launch" his kite. He blew up his 11 meter kite first. As we were getting it up, the wind caught it, blew me over, and I landed in the water, flat on my back! At the same time, Matt was nearly pulled off the ground! We voted to get a smaller kite. He ended up using the 9 meter. He had a great time! We arrived at the beach at 12-ish, and left at 4:30. The kids did so great. Mya had her sand toys, and played with them for awhile, but spent most of her time just running in and from the waves. Emily was crawling around the whole time, eating sand. I tried, believe me, to keep her from doing that, but for some strange reason she really enjoys it. She was happy as could be. Messy as could be, too!

Bathtime Buddies

I LOVE this picture! The girls were playing and spalshing together in the tub, and I thought it was very cute. I got a clip on video tape, but can't figure out how to upload it. Here's a still shot of my two girls. How can you NOT want to eat them up?

What would you do to kiteboard?

Matt and Emily watch Mya as she entertains.
Doesn't mind getting dirty! Don't worry.... it's mud.
Kids having fun in the pool.
Matt "blowing" on Mya..... she liked it.
Emily wanting to show her crawling skills on the table.
Her first taste of cake. She got mad when we didn't keep it shoveled in.
Matt and one of his kites. Does it look big?
Now does it look bigger? It's 20 meters. Yes, it IS very close to being the length of our house!
Trying to capture the size of the kite.

The winds were up enough on Saturday for Matt to take his kites out. We were on a mission to get him in the water. We drove an hour south to some beaches we could "launch" at. First beach was closed, next beach was for boats to launch, third beach didn't allow kite-boarding, fourth beach had too many people. Yes... we had to drive to each individual beach. Yes, we did take the girls along. Yes, we were loading and unloading kids all afternoon. It was tiring, and very dissappointing, especially for Matt. Mya was looking forward to playing at the beach again, after our last trip to Canada. We couldn't head back home without taking a few minutes to let the kids splash around. Later that night, we went to our "Lifelinks" group for a dinner together. Mya was so happy to get the chance to swim again! She is part fish I think. We did end up having a great day, just a long one, spending all that time in the car.

What a week!

Mya and HER kitty.
At the baseball game.
Emily wanting to pet the cat. She doesn't know the word "gentle".
LOVES the animals!
Mya trying to feed Gus a tube. Emily snuggles.
She is always wanting to put her fingers in the mouth. Human, animal.. doesn't matter!
Ray meets Gus without the protection of a window. Note the ruffled fur.

This week has been packed full with activities, and we have spent a lot of time on the road. Thank goodness for A/C! Monday evening I was able to leave the girls at home with Matt while
I got out with some girlfriends. I had a great time! So nice to enjoy time without the kids now and then. Tuesday we helped out a mommy who has been on bed rest with her pregnancy. Wednesday was a late one, since Matt headed to Canada again to get his kite. He came home with four kites, and all the equipment needed so he can start kite-boarding. He is SO excited! I am excited for him too! I know it will be really cool, but I am a little nervous at the danger involved. I guess it wouldn't be quite as fun if it were "safe". My hubby... he is a thrill seeker. Last night we went to our first baseball game in downtown Buffalo. We took the kids, got free admission & free food. It was through Matt's work, so I had the chance to meet a few of his co-workers. Today we are going to be staying at home, taking it easy and catching up on what didn't get done during the week.
The kitten continues to be a great joy to the girls and I. I love the daily sound of Mya and cat feet running through the house, and screams of joy. I have finally found a perfect pair! They both have more energy than I know what to do with. Combine the two of them, and it works out great!
Emily has discovered crawling since last week. She loves it! Me... it's much more work! Oh well, it was going to happen sooner or later.
I hope you are having a great week! Take care.

A Day at the Beach

We went to the Canadian side of Lake Erie yesterday. We spent a couple hours splashing in the warm water, playing in the sand, & Mya got to play with daddy.It was a lot of fun!

Mya sees her first "Draw Bridge". We had the chance to see boats pass under it! It was amazing at how fast it goes up and down! Very clever.

Taking a moment from enjoying the waves on the legs, so mommy can take a picture.

I didn't think the water would be warm enough to get in the lake. I didn't bring swimsuits for the girls... or me. They had no trouble getting their clothes wet!

Here is Emily after some fishie crackers. She ate a ton of them!

We have a New Addition

On Saturday, we were able to pick up a kitten! Mya wanted an "orange kitty", so that's what we got. It's a boy kitty, and he's about 10 weeks old. Mya wanted to name him "Baby One" so, we're going to call him Ray instead. I don't think he had much people time, so we're dealing with an anxious cat right now. It's warmed up to me pretty well, but Mya & Emily don't help the cat with fear of people. Emily loves it, therefore, grabs handfuls of fur, or ears, and pulls it to her face. Mya wants to play with the cat more than anything else. She and daddy went to the store to get toys for the cat. One of the toys was a fishing pole with a stuffed fish at the end of it. Mya has been chasing the cat, hitting it with the stuffed fish. She's not trying to be mean. She really just wants to play. The problem is she gets so excited that she can't contain herself. We haven't been getting sleep during the night, which is never fun. Before getting a cat, Mya had been wanting to share her bed with the new kitty. Now that it's here, she crys if it hops in bed with her. It has been trying to join her several times during the night... so we all hear the crying... every time. We'll get through it. Tonight we'll be making some adjustments to Ray's sleeping arrangements. Despite the work we have set ourselves up for, I am really enjoying the cat.

He DOES exist!

We have had so many people ask us about Gus, I thought I should add him to our blog. He's still around and doing well. He's coming up on being 6 years old. Wow! There is something between Gus and Emily. They adore each other. I find it annoying, because I don't find Gus (or any dog, for that matter) to be clean. He wants to give Emily kisses, and smell her, and she wants to touch him, and kiss him back. Actually, Matt told me that one day, Gus came right up to Emily's face, and she grabbed hold of him and put her whole mouth on his nose. Yuck! So glad I didn't see that! For Mother's Day, one of the things Matt got for me was a bird feeder. I have REALLY enjoyed all the critters that come to snack from it. Today, we had a bright red Cardinal on the feeder, with a little chipmunk right under the feeder. I tried taking a picture, but my lovely daughter, Mya, couldn't resist banging on the door to scare them away. She can be such a stinker!

When it sticks

There are times when I hear a verse, and it doesn't seem to have much "punch", if you will. Other times, you come across something, maybe one you've heard before, when it smacks you right between the eyes. I had the eye shot today. I went looking for it, actually. And here's my verse:

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6 & 7

Hearing is the easy part. Applying is where it's tough. However, when you DO apply it, you come to see how true, and how real it is. I am so thankful to have such a powerful God. He cares for every little detail in our lives. How cool!

Who would have thought?

So here's the story..... I have been wanting a kitten since before Christmas. We knew we needed to wait until we moved into our own home. We moved in April. Then, we had already planned our trips out to California, and didn't want to have a new kitten that would need taking care of. This past week, we began the search. I have found several kittens, but none under $75. That's for the cheap ones. No, they're not pure-bred. That would cost several hundred dollars... and why have a pure-bred CAT? Some things are so different here in NY. In CA, I don't know how many times I came across FREE kittens at the doorway of stores. Not here. We'll see what happens. Mya and I sure would love a cat. Not at that price though. Mind you, the people placing the ads admit to finding them under dumpsters, and in abandoned barns. I don't get it.

Would you be concerned?

Since we've been back home, Emily has been having a hard time going to bed. It's something we're trying to work through. Because Mya and Emily share a room, if Emily can't go to sleep, I will end up putting her in our room so Mya can get to sleep. Emily has been moving around FAR too much for me to have her on the bed, so she's been on the floor. I had placed pillows on one side, so she wouldn't roll or crawl under our bed. When I was ready to turn in for the night, I carefully climbed on my bed to get to the night light. I didn't want to step on the little one. I turned on the light, and to my shock, there was no Emily! I got on the floor, and saw the blanket I gave her, but still no Emily. Laying on my tummy now, I saw little toes, and a baby bottom in the air.... under the bed. She was OUT! I'm including the pictures of the way I found her. Silly kid!

Happy 4th!

We slept in too late to catch a Parade, so we spent part of our day hunting for a kitten... with no luck. The other part of the day we spent BBQ-ing in our fire-pit, and playing games in the back yard. It was pretty relaxing! This was the first year that we didn't catch a firework show. We didn't know that fireworks were illegal in New York. After we headed to bed, Matt and I did hear the loud popping noises from the shows that were put on. We do plan on doing a show next year. This week was busy enough with us just getting back from California. Hope everyone had an enjoyable day!