coloradosnyders's Xanga

leaving

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:06:47 GMT

Just in case anyone checks this anymore, I'm leaving xanga and am going to try to keep up with things on facebook. Clearly, this system isn't working for me, so maybe I will keep up on facebook better.

Anyway, we're here in Indiana and settled into our new home. We love the house and the girls are thriving now that we're back into a routine after a month-plus of moving chaos.

So, I'll be sending friend requests to some of you soon. If you're not on facebook and want to see pictures of the girls more often let me know and I'll send you an e-mail every once and a while!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:34:12 GMT

It's snowed several days in April with a few beautiful days scattered in. Matt's parents were here for a long Easter weekend and we had a nice visit.

There was a little snow on Easter... the girls wore sweaters and tights with their dresses!

Last week, it snowed from Thursday night until Sunday, but because it was so warm a lot of it melted as it hit the ground. But, the snow was great for snowman-making!

The girls seem to be growing up so fast! Sunday mornings we have oatmeal, and last week Leah helped Matt fix it.

Rebekah is at a really fun age. She's picking up a lot of new words and has been copying a lot of daily activities that she sees us do.

The other day she took her shoes off, put them in Matt's gym bag and then put it over her shoulder.

She also like to help me take clothes out of the dryer.

And the other day, she inverted the stool and added the baby doll carried to make a nice lounge chair.

It is snowing again this morning, but maybe this is the last time for the season... I love snow, but since it's almost May, I'm ready for spring weather!

March

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:53:36 GMT

Ok, here's a recap of our March. Overall, the weather has been beautiful here this winter and we've spent a lot of time outside. Leah gave up on asking for snow and has been playing with sidewalk chalk and riding her tricycle. (However, I think it's snowed 4 times in April already!)

Look at the picture of our family that Leah drew. She'd just learned to draw a person, so I was amazed when she showed me this picture of our family with four different sized people!

Here's my new favorite picture of our girls!

Leah spends a lot of time taking care of her "kids" - she has babies and big girls.

Rebekah took her first steps on March 17th! Leah and I were there, but Matt was at work, and it took a day or two before he got to see her walk. She's making progress, but it's slow, and walking it not her primary mode of transportation yet.

I realized that by the time Leah was Rebekah's age, she was already helping me in the kitchen. So, I started training a new kitchen "helper." She helped me make pizza the other day and loved chewing on the wooden spoon and banging on it.

We got official word that the Air Force is sending Matt to the school in Indiana, so we went house hunting over spring break. It was fun to see our new town and a house to live in for the 3 years we'll be there. It has 3 bedrooms and and office for Matt to study in (with double doors that close!) It has a little more room than we have now and a nice yard that we're really excited about! It's also only 8 minutes from the engineering building, which is much quicker than the commute he has now. Riding his bike will even be an option. We really feel like God provided just the right house for us for this next adventure, and it will make leaving Colorado a little bit easier.

And one more of our favorite mountain, Pike's Peak. Over our last year here, I'm taking a picture for each season and am looking forward to putting them up in a frame once we're living in the cornfields instead of the mountains!

Look who's standing up!

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:41:47 GMT

Yes, our little Rebekah is standing! She is just getting over a rough stretch where she got 3 molars in, but now that she's feeling better, she's making some progress with her standing. As you can see, Leah gets very excited when she stands up. So do Matt and I

And here she is in her two favorite places: by the fireplace and on the steps. She loves sitting on the bottom step and hanging her little feet off it!

I tell Matt it feels like I have 3 girls because Pink Bear is Leah's favorite animal and is always with her! She gave her a bath in the sink a few weeks ago and I couldn't believe how dirty the water got!

I love these two of Matt being a "daddy." It is obvious both of his girls love him and he loves being a daddy to them. In the second picture, he is reading his Bible on a Saturday morning and Leah wanted to get her Bible out and read too. Usually, Leah is still in bed when Matt and I have our Bible reading and prayer times, but I think it's really important that she gets to see us on the weekends. It's one thing to tell her about God, but it's even better for her to see us studying to learn more about Him ourselves.

Last Friday night, we had a tea party to celebrate Leah's good eating at meals lately. She even got to pick the menu: hot chocolate, cheddar bunny crackers, cheerios, mini-marshmallows, crasins and chocolate chips. You can also see our Valentine's Day flowers on the the table. I love the flowers that Matt and my Dad got me, but I almost cried when Matt arrived home with two pink roses as well.

And, Wednesday night of this week, we had a summer party in the evening. Burgers and the traditional sides for dinner and then the pool and ice cream cones for dessert. Leah had a blast, and Rebekah ended up getting in the pool too! We were able to get her clothes off first

Here's a picture of Pike's Peak from earlier this week. As our move this summer draws closer, we're savoring the mountains and gorgeous weather even more. Today, it was in the 50s and I ran in shorts and a t-shirt!

Bribery

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:47:56 GMT

...or the rewards system. Call it what you like, but the big news around here is that Leah has stopped sucking her thumb because of a doll stroller. She's been obsessed with strollers ever since she could walk, and for whatever reason, we never got her one. But, when Matt and I had a date a few weeks ago and actually had time to talk, he had the great idea of a doll stroller reward. The first night we told her about the stroller and not sucking her thumb, she woke up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night (which she rarely does) and it took her an hour and a half to fall back asleep without her thumb. She would cry, and say, "I don't want a stroller, I want to suck my thumb." And then a few minutes later, "But I want a stroller!" This went on for a while, but it was the only night she had trouble. After that, she quit cold turkey and got the stroller after 6 days! She is thrilled, and so are we

January

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:39:31 GMT

Mid-January, we enjoyed a week and a half of warm weather (50s and 60s many days) and we enjoyed spending a lot of time outside By Monday morning of this week it was 2 and snowy, and we woke up to this beautiful sight Tuesday morning as the snow clouds cleared!

I wanted to document the pjs that Leah picked out to sleep in on Monday night. When we're at Bible study at the Academy on Monday nights, we have a babysitter at home for the girls. I used to leave of pjs for Leah Monday nights, but I don't bother any more, because she always picks a different "outfit" from her drawer. This was definiely her most creative outfit to date, but she did stick with a pink and green color scheme!

I've been wanting to bake our own bread for a while, and took the plunge in 2009! It's actually gone better than I thought it would. I've had a few little incindents, but nothing that's ruined the bread yet! It's in an attempt to save money, be healthier and it tastes really good! Of course, it takes time, but I'm hopeing the process will get quicker as I do it more. The first bread I made was Matt's Mom's shredded wheat bread and rolls. Yesterday, I tried a cheesy Italian bread recipe I found on the internet. A little flat, but good taste overall.

Since we're moving this summer, we've decided that now is the time to do all the organization projects around the house that we haven't done in a while (like cleaning out the filing cabinet.) As you can see, we had plenty of "help", and it yielded quite a pile to shred!

Rebekah is getting in 3 molars and has had a runny nose, but it hasn't kept her from continuing to explore. And we still see that great smile most of the time!

Happy 1st Birthday, Rebekah!

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:00:02 GMT

Our Rebekah Noel was one year old on Christmas day! She got to be with her Daddy, Mommy and sister all day, and even had Grandpa Kevin, Aunt Beth, and Uncle Craig around. By her party in the evening, she had gotten the hang of opening presents!

Aunt Beth made manicotti for dinner. It was delicious and both girls loved it - it was the first time Rebekah had tomato. Then, we all enjoyed cake! Rebekah learned the word "bear" early in December and started calling all stuffed animals "bear". She also called Grandpa's cat a "bear" and went on many "bear hunts" for the cat while we were at his house. So, I thought a bear cake would be fun for her first birthday! It's hard to believe that the cake tasted so good with all the sweets around, but we all really enjoyed it!

As you can see, Rebekah enjoyed her cake! She also liked the ice cream. After a funny face about the cold, she said "mmmm" and wanted more.

Rebekah has learned how to say important new words lately like baby, Papa and bubble. It's hard to believe, but we think she says even more words that Leah did at this age. But, she certainly hears more talking because she has her older sister around!

We all love you, Rebekah Noel. You are a fun, beautiful gift from God.

Christmas in Review

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:44:37 GMT

I've been wanting to update this since we got home last week, but unpacking and getting our life back in order was more important to me! But, since it is snowing here, and Leah is still singing Christmas carols (she just learned them after hearing them for a month!) there is a holiday feel around our house!

I'll put up a few pictures from before we left. I loved seeing Leah's manger scene set up with all the people and animals looking at Jesus - what a great reminder in the busy season!

This is my favorite Christmas picture of Rebekah from when we opened a few presents before we left (don't mind the dirty face!)

And Leah found this huge tumbleweed on a walk before we left and dragged it back to our house.

We had a wonderful Christmas vacation! First, we went to Wisconsin, where we had a wonderful time - but it was very cold! -15 when we went to church Sunday morning. We were thankful that we didn't have many plans except hanging out in the warm, cozy house! My Dad, brother and sister were around, so the girls had lots of people to play with. The grownups also had time to enjoy many games of darts and Yahtzee.

Leah did a great job helping me wrap presents. I was impressed!

Here's Rebekah on Christmas Eve:

Here is the best family picture we got when we were all dressed up after the Christmas Eve service:

But, I thought the "outtakes" were fun too!

The girls with Grandpa Kevin:

Rebekah's favorite part of Christmas morning was opening her stocking. Leah liked it too!

Despite the new toys around, Leah was usually found helping someone open his or her present:

The day after Christmas we headed to NY to see Matt's family (with a few extra "bonus" hours in the Chicago airport!) The girls were great travellers, though. On the planes, Leah was watching Seasame Street on the DVD player with earphones and eating teddy grahams out of the bag. She looked like such a big kid. And Rebekah polished off a whole cheeseburger at the airport, more than once!

The girls got to visit with Papa and Grammie and Aunt Em in NY. There was plenty of time for playing, baking and tea parties for the girls. And the adults enjoyed pingpong and good conversation.

There was more present opening:

Here's Leah helping Grammie make doughnuts:

The Snyder family Christmas get-together happened when we were in NY, so we got to see Matt's grandma and Aunts and Uncle.

We were thankful to be able to take a quick side trip to PA and NJ to see my Grandparents. They last saw Leah when she was 8 months old, and had never met Rebekah.

Matt's cousin and his family stopped by, and that was the only time Leah got to play with other kids on our trip. She certainly had a great time, but was more than ready for playgroup this week!

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas season! It was a lot of fun, but it's also good to be getting back to normal.

Thanksgiving... and Christmas

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:16:55 GMT

Last time, I didn't put up any Thanksgiving pictures. We shared a delicious meal with friends. We love to cook a big meal, but it's much more fun to share it with others. So, we usually have people over who don't have family around either. Rebekah enjoyed her first Thanksgiving meal - stuffing and rolls were her favorite!

We use a lot of rags around here and I just throw them in a bin when I'm folding the laundry. But, the other day, Leah was helping me with laundry and folded all the rags and stacked them up. Isn't that impressive? And I'm not sure you can see, but her hair is growing! I can now pull the sides back with clips

And here's two of Leah enjoying the Christmas stuff that's around!

We enjoyed putting up some decorations a few weeks ago. The bowl of ornaments makes me smile - a $2.50 well spent, I think!

And one more... I hope it brings a smile to your face today!

11 months old

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:57:09 GMT

Rebekah Noel was 11 months old last week. We are all enjoying seeing her little personality develop. She is still very laid back, but is also a lot of fun. She loves signaling touchdown, playing peek-a-boo, and crawling over to us for hugs. She also loves to eat. We need to get a video of her eating some time - it is usually a two-fisted affair!

Because our townhouse is small, we don't keep all the toys out at once, and the little blocks had been up in Leah's room for a while. We got them out last week, and Rebekah caught on to building towers right away! I'm glad she hasn't been scarred from not having access to blocks for the last few months!

And, here is one of Leah with her Daddy. We enjoyed having him around a little extra last week because of Thanksgiving as well as a knee procedure he needed to have done. He hung out on the couch and played with the girls while I took care of things around the house. While it was a little busy for me, I did enjoy doing my work without my "little helpers" around all of the time!