Last Chance to Kiss a 2 year old

We hung Eva's pink streamers throughout the house.  We read her books.  We tucked her in as Dave said, "Last chance to kiss your two year old."  With love we kissed and hugged her and we were especially thankful for her.  Birthdays always make me a little sad.  I love holding her, helping her and soaking in all her sweetness. 

Here Luke is teaching her how to use her new toy.

"Eva, kiss your brother."

She laughs and Luke only cracks a smile.

Pumpkin hunt.

Pumpkin hunt part two.

Candy corn relay.

We had such a great time celebrating with family.  We will always love you Eva.  Thanks for making life extra special for the last two years.

First Time Carving Pumpkins

 We had some artistic support from Aunt Jackie and Uncle Riley for pumpkin carving.  Luke drew his own face on the pumpkin and it is a puppy.  Eva requested a lamb face.  We had so much fun watching them make their first jack-o-lanterns.

Here is Eva with a bloody lip and her cake one week early. 

 Eva got a serving set, books, and cookies for her birthday. 

 Luke can't wait to have size 13 shoes.  He would like to buy a pair and save them for that special day.  Right now he can only look up to Riley and want to be like him.

 Pinkalicious.

Hold Me

 

One of the greatest things about being a mother is getting to hold your kids.  Luke's feet never touched the ground for the first 30 minutes of the day until Eva was born.  When he woke up I would hold him all the way down the stairs and hold him while we read books or watched a DVD and while he drank his milk.  I still love to hold Luke and I love when he sings this song. 
Eva was the one who first noticed this song on the radio.  She loved be-bopping to the tune.  As she was so cute in the back seat it made me think of her.  The singer, Jamie Grace, is 19 and originally wrote this song about a sunggie and then realized it was similar to God "holding" her.  When I hear the song I think about Eva's hugs and how much I love holding her.  It is pure joy.  I wish it could last forever.  I love the aura Eva creates.  Suddenly the world is a better place.  I love being able to dance and sing in the grocery store when I am with her.  I love to kiss her at every isle.  I love to ignore everything else and just be with her.  I love dancing in the car with Eva as this song plays.  I also love her dancing hugs and how she asks me to hold her to dance with her.

My favorite lyrics about Luke and Eva are...
"Just when I think this crazy world will get me down, that's when your smile comes around."
"You take each and every day and make it special in some way."
"I love you more than word or my brain can express, I can't imagine even loving you less."
"You took my day and flipped it around..."
"I love the way you hold me!"

Well, time wins every time

Despite all my hoping that summer would last longer and I could keep Luke with me a little more September 2nd came anyhow.  What a day.  What does a mom do that has taught him everything for 5.5 years and now I am out of a job from 7:30am-3:45pm.  I was so proud as he took this next step today.  I realized all he has become and all he has to learn.  I feel blessed that education is provided and a privilege. 

I started to teach him how to get on and off his backpack, how to get his snack, and how to operate all the clips on his back pack.  I then told him how he could tell me if he wanted more food, less food, different food, or more water while he was at school.  I was then going to go into a list of everything that may make him frustrated and what to do and every question he could ask his teacher and then I realized that he is on his own.  I have to trust what he has learned so far will help him in full day school. 

 Eva was the saddest one today.  She cried for 10 minutes after he left and there was nothing I could do to console her.  She has been asking for him all day.

Firefly

We spent 6 days enjoying the simple life up north.  Everyday we hiked around the lake, biked, ran, and swam at the beach.  We celebrated Jake's fourth birthday Aug 14.  Luke rode his bike up to 5 miles a day on all the beautiful bike trails.  He also started mountain biking on "the bumps" and he made is 12 inch wheels do a lot of work.  Luke did split his lip open when he was sleeping so you may notice that in the photos.  We had a great time with Dave's family.

 Eva's first ice cream cone that cost more than 49 cents and was not vanilla.

 Luke loved helping Uncle Bill with the hydraulic log splitter.