surprise bean

surprise!

It's a Bean!

fun stuff

Bell with her Gubsi bag

Bean with her Gubsi bag

Bell sporting her fancy orange clip

Bean with her fancy pink bow

Mommy has been blessed with very kind friends. :) Thank you. :)

tucking in your "baby"

This is a favorite game lately:

first, listen to make sure your baby is snoring (you'll be able to tell by her "snoring face")

next, make sure she has enough blankets and feels nice and cozy

last, read your sleeping baby a story

Bean is the baby and Bell is the "mama". :) (at least in these pictures... they usually take turns)

All Shall Be Well

‘Cause all shall be well, all shall be well
Break the chains of the gates of Hell
Still all manner of things will be well
All shall be well, all shall be well
The Word of God will never fail
And all manner of things will be well

There’s a light in the darkness
There’s an end to the night

Andrew Peterson - "All Shall Be Well"

Bean and Bell

Bell

Bean

they look like they're up to something, don't they?

3 years ago today

3 years ago today... we were really happy

More Christmas

I think they had a good Christmas:

Bean

Bell

Bean

Bean with her puppy

Grampy is opening Bell's puppy

Grandma shows the girls an ornament with their picture on it

this could be self-torture: "santa" got each of them a sing-a-majig

daddy was counting down the days until he could get the girls legos - duplo will do for a little while

Bean sending e -mail

Bell checking her e-mail

and.... another good song:

 

And I know the reason
Each glowing candle shines
No matter what the season
It's always Christmas time
Knowing that you're mine

It's been a long, long year
It's coming to an end
Looking by my side
You still have my faith

-Mindy Smith "I know the Reason"

Merry Christmas

Bell very excited to get Belle :o)

Bean very excited to get Aurora

Bean  admiring her new puzzle

Bell hugging her new baby

Bean serving Grandad some tea

Grandma helping Bean

Bell said (after taking off the baby's clothes) "oh no! she naked!"

Aunt Jill with the girls wearing the sweaters she made!

The girls trying not to steal their sweet cousin's laptop.

Bear and his NFL helmets!

We had a nice Christmas Eve! I've only uploaded and edited those pictures so far. Pictures from the morning will follow soon.

Merry Christmas

The Silence of God

I've had this CD for awhile, but when I listened to the lyrics of this song yesterday, I thought, "i think this is exactly how Darin felt". I desperately wish, most especially on this Christmas Eve that he could have hung on, just a little longer, but I can't imagine feeling the way he felt. something like this:

"It's enough to drive a man crazy; it'll break a man's faith
It's enough to make him wonder if he's ever been sane
When he's bleating for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rod
And the heaven's only answer is the silence of God

It'll shake a man's timbers when he loses his heart
When he has to remember what broke him apart
This yoke may be easy, but this burden is not
When the crying fields are frozen by the silence of God

And if a man has got to listen to the voices of the mob
Who are reeling in the throes of all the happiness they've got
When they tell you all their troubles have been nailed up to that cross
Then what about the times when even followers get lost?
'Cause we all get lost sometimes...

There's a statue of Jesus on a monastery knoll
In the hills of Kentucky, all quiet and cold
And He's kneeling in the garden, as silent as a Stone
All His friends are sleeping and He's weeping all alone

And the man of all sorrows, he never forgot
What sorrow is carried by the hearts that he bought
So when the questions dissolve into the silence of God
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
In the holy, lonesome echo of the silence of God"

Andrew Peterson: "The Silence of God"

 I know he cried out to God for help. But because this world is imperfect and plagued with sin, he did not receive the peace he prayed for. But ultimately by God's grace he has that peace now. God does keep his promises. 

And because it's Christmas Eve and God is not always silent... sometimes His love is bright and beautiful and comes across loud and clear. Like the night Love incarnate came into the world as a little baby and reminded (and still reminds) us that the love between people here on earth is but a light sketch compared to Love himself.

"After the last tear falls
After the last secret's told
After the last bullet tears through flesh and bone
After the last child starves
And the last girl walks the boulevard
After the last year that's just too hard

There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love

After the last disgrace
After the last lie to save some face
After the last brutal jab from a poison tongue
After the last dirty politician
After the last meal down at the mission
After the last lonely night in prison

There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love

And in the end, the end is
Oceans and oceans
Of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen
Were caught in the palms
Of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales

'Cause after the last plan fails
After the last siren wails
After the last young husband sails off to join the war
After the last "this marriage is over"
After the last young girl's innocence is stolen
After the last years of silence that won't let a heart open

There is love
Love, love, love
There is love

'Cause after the last tear falls
There is love"

Andrew Peterson : "After the Last Tear Falls"

Merry Christmas

Immanuel - God IS with us

feeding bailey

another couple of videos from our time in the snow the other day:

Bailey really likes snow!

walking in the snow

We went outside to enjoy the snow this morning. Bailey jumped and rolled and had a blast.
The girls...well... they're working on walking in the snow. Most of our outside time went like this:

 

The entire 25min or so that we were outside I was laughing. Between both of them falling down, and trying to help each other up and falling down again - it was quite the comedy of errors.

alike, but different

they might look alike, but they are so very different. case in point:

me: girls, what's your favorite word?
Bean: joy
me: oooo...that's a good one.
Bean: joy to the world!
me: Bell, what's your favorite word?
Bell: chicken nuggets

What's your favorite thing to do?
Bell: Shake the balls. (i have no idea)
Bean: play and read stories

What's your favorite place?
Bell: Chicago
Bean: in Kokomo
Bell: I like to go to champaign
Bean: and I like to go to Chicago to see Tim and Krissy
Bell: and you can say, "rapido"
Bean: rapido
(rapido is from dora... but i have no idea how it got into this conversation)

What do you like about Christmas?
Bell: hot chocolate (yes, she is the one who didn't like it)
Bean: crackers

What do you think Santa will bring?
Bean: presents?
Bell: I don't know
Bean: maybe pens?
Bell: maybe pickles... or milk?

Never a dull moment.

another day

just thought you'd enjoy some cute pics:

Bell

Bean

We received a good amount of snow last night. Bailey had a blast playing in it after the girls went to sleep. We've had some "car issues" the past couple of days, so the girls have been stuck in the house.
I think we might go outside and play in the snow this morning. We'll see.

Here fishy fishy!

This is from one day last week. I was watching Bean on the monitor after she woke up. I couldn't really tell what she was doing. This is what happened when I went upstairs to check it out.

Of course! A fish - with fins. So very obvious.

Shipoopi!

I got to go see "The Music Man" last weekend with some ladies from church. It brought back a lot of wonderful memories from college. It also got a few songs stuck in my head. This is the girls' favorite:

"Shipoopi, shipoopi, shipoopi
the girl who's hard to get
Shipoopi, shipoopi, shipoopi
but you can win her yet"

If I could have picked a favorite from this musical to have them obsess over, it's safe to say this would not be the one. However, since it's captured their interest, we'll work on the choreography and update when it improves. :)

hi daddy

looking at Darin's picture today:

Bean: "hi daddy"
Bell: "hi daddy"
Bell: "we play candyland and memory game and read stories."
Bean: "we play candyland and memory game"
Bell: "you in heaven, daddy.?."
Bean: "yeah, we see you in heaven sometimes"
Bell: "mommy miss you sometimes, but i make mommy happy"
(Bean notices i'm crying listening to this)
Bean: "it's okay mommy. daddy in heaven. we see daddy when we go to heaven."
Bell: "i really really miss you"

there's nothing i can add. it's just so genuine. it breaks my heart.

Daddy with Bell (l) and Bean (r) January 2010

nice cozy reading spot

On a cold winter day I completely understand the desire to curl up in a comfortable place with a good book.

probably wouldn't pick this particular spot myself.

making applesauce

Sometimes last week, we made applesauce. (it went much better than cookie baking)

YUM! I was going to print out the pictures and make it into a book... probably not happening soon. So I posted them here and will show the girls when they are done "reading".