The One Chair in the House Not Buried in Boxes

This Morning

This morning Lilah came for a few hours while her parents were all academic. She could see herself in the camera, while Svea played and pointed in the background.



Henry learned to sew on one of Lilah's cards...



...while Lilah typed away on Svea's new computer.

Bobbie and Pops Camp

Henry and Svea spent a few nights at Bobbie and Pops' house this weekend. I was only there a little while (sweet) but snapped this of the kiddos dancing at the after-dinner dance party:



And, always a fave, sliding on boxes down the hill by the soccer field.









I have great childhood memories of doing this all over campus and this was my first time to do it with Henry and Svea. Awwww.

Suzana to Play

Suzana came to play last week and fit in perfectly in our new playroom.



Kinda like E.T. but lots cuter.

She really loved the piano, but Henry thought she would love football better so he kept trying to MAKE her play and HAVE FUN. All she wanted to do is sing and play. Is that so wrong?



She had no idea what was coming.



She is walking and laughing and is in such a fun phase. She can even read.



Thanks for coming to play, Suzana!

In the baby pool

In the baby pool
Originally uploaded by iMollie

Svea eating her cake, too

Svea eating her cake, too
Originally uploaded by iMollie

Svea laughing at Aunt Merpha

Svea laughing at Aunt Merpha
Originally uploaded by iMollie

Shots by Merpha

Meredith sent me these from her visit here a few weeks ago:

Superboy Henry:



Lydia with a cape and Svea cooking:



Dress-up mirror:



Musical dress-up:



Drummer boy:

Svea is Two Today!

Happy birthday, sweet girl.

Ready for the Day

Today is our rest day between parties which means errand running and some packing.

Henry did, of course, dress himself for the day and Svea unfortunately has her shirt on backwards because her mom was, I don't know, thinking of maybe 93 other things at the moment. She fixed it later before getting out of the car to go somewhere though.



Svea's new main thing is to take this cut-out magnet picture of Henry holding a beach ball and place it on random surfaces. We have a lot of surfaces that magnets will stick to in this house, like all the kitchen cabinets. The place of the day is under the handle of the cabinet under the kitchen sink, right there behind Henry's left shoulder in this photo. Makes me smile every time.

And those Lightning McQueen sandals on Henry's feet?
Today is the last day he'll wear those.

Birthday Week

Today was the beginning of birthday week at our house. Svea turns 2 on Thursday, so we hung this sign above the couch:



And this sign on the door:



And had a few morning playdate friends over to play:



Then had some cupcakes and muffins:



It was 2 hours of really loud and wonderful messy fun. I am a little hoarse tonight from talking so much and yelling over Kole and Henry's inventions like The Running Game and The Wo-Wo-Wo Down the Stairs Game and The Screaming Game. Next year, those two may not be invited.

I'm so proud of Svea and am so aware of the happiness that she brings to our house. She wasn't feeling terribly happy today as she was frequently full of two-year-old screaming moments. She actually spent most of her playdate alone in the play room, stacking toys into towers and singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to herself. Afterwards she would occasionally yell out, "Yeah Dinosaurs!" for no reason. That's my girl. Totally random.

It was a great start to the birthday week regardless. I think Lilah thought so:




And thank you, Leta, for taking pictures!

More Lake Pictures

First Fishing Trip

We're back from the lake!

Henry and Svea had their first fishing experiences in the early mornings last week.
Henry even baited his own hook with those gross plastic worm things BY HIMSELF which was key.
Svea just liked turning the crank thing on the fishing pole. Whatever that's called. Help with vocab, Uncle Johnnie?





It was unbelievably hot, even in the wee hours, so we never stayed long.
What was awesome was when Henry would bound into the house on our return to tell our sleepy friends that he had fished and he found a "honey hole." Thank you for THAT bit of vocab, Uncle Johnnie.





The fishing made Brian and me a little nostalgic in surprising ways. We would start naming all the people in our family trees who had even held a fishing pole and then get the kids to say their names. Our lame parenting attempts to keep our kids connected, I guess.
I don't care though. It was wonderful. Even if we never caught a fish.

Off to the Lake

I think we're ready.

Early Morning Shadows