Helen Keller

"The marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome."  -Helen Keller

This quote (given by someone who was blind and deaf) has inspired me....how often do we take for granted the "marvelous richness of human experience?"  To be able to see a butterfly, a flower, a beautiful sunset, a baby's smile?  To be able to hear "Help me!"  the smack of a 2 year old's kiss, a whistle blown over and over, a 4 year old learning how to play the harmonica, the windchime, the sound of rain at night. 

At 19 months old Helen was sick with a very high fever.  When the fever broke, she was left deaf and blind.  My heart goes out to the child being thrown into a dark and silent world.  I also feel for her parents....what a hard thing to see your baby that by that time would be walking, running, talking, and learning all about her world go through this.  We have been sick this winter....we have been so blessed in years passed to be so healthy and strong.  This winter we were hit with about everything that went around and were continually fighting off one thing or another.  I am so grateful for tylenol - when fevers rise in a little one, it is so comforting to be able to give them some tylenol to break that fever and help them feel better.  I'm also so grateful for antibiotics when they are needed.  What the Kellers would have given for something like that! 

Vaccinations are another thing I'm grateful for tonight.  So much of the human experience throughout the ages has had to get through really nasty disease that took children young and so many in the prime of life.  You never knew when Polio would strike, Malaria, Small Pox, Measles, Mumps, the list goes on.....
By the time she was 6, Helen Keller had about 60 signs to communicate with her family.  Anne Sullivan became Helen's teacher when she was 7.  Helen's family found Anne through a School for the Bind where Anne had been a student herself as she was visually impaired. 

Helen went on to become an author, political activist, and lecturer.  Of all the excuses to want to be hidden away from people all your life - to sit and not have to communicate with someone because you can't hear them or see them......what a spirit of courage she had!  The way she expresses herself in her writing is beautiful.  Although I don't agree with everything she fought for, namely socialism, she was dedicated to her causes, and for that I salute her. 

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart"  -Helen Keller.

To read Helen's story:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller

VIDEO:  Happy Girls.  This was taken awhile ago.  Silver used to go around singing "happy!  Happy!  Happy!"  While bobbing her head up and down :)

VIDEO:  We borrowed a puppy from Paca for the day. 

Here is Silver kissing to call the puppy to her.

VIDEO:  Silver riding her pink unicorn :)

I LOVE SNOW!

Beautiful!

Our Faithful Winter Friends
These little beauties stayed with us all through the Cold!

River playing with the soap while washing the dishes.

Here she has drawn a heart in the soap.

Waving goodbye to Daddy.

We usually go outside to wave goodbye, but on Cold days, we stay inside :)

River and Silver both run as fast as they can down the sidewalk to wave goodbye to Daddy. 

His truck just leaving for work in the distance.

Silver balancing on a little chair to wash dishes.

"The marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome." -Helen Keller

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart" -Helen Keller.

Bumper Sticker

Bumper sticker reads "This vehicle is insured by Colt"

Funny :) 

Ride 'em Cowgirl!

A fun evening of riding the horse.

River came up with this invention and had so much fun with it!

Ye Haw!

VIDEO:  River riding her horse!

Me Time Together

Colt's Fly-Tying Bench

We set up an office in the spare bedroom for our computers and Colt's fly-tying bench.  We've enjoyed a great evening in each of our "me time" activities...together!
Our desks are side by side and it was so nice as I blogged and he tied flies to occasionally laugh and talk about memories as we looked at pictures and did our own thing.
This is Dangerous....Colt loves to tie flies and I love to blog......with kids down to sleep, it was him waiting for me and me waiting for him.....off to bed.  Over and out!

Quote Board

Silver pronounces Summer's name as "Shuummaaaah!" Said with much enthusiasm!


In our preschool time we were learning about the seasons, and with the globe, talking about the way the Earth tilts, making it Winter on this side of the Earth and Summer on the other side. A couple of days later River says to me: "MOM! So, it's winter here and summer there. But they're on the other side of the Earth. But to them, that's their home, and we're on the other side of the Earth to them!!" Huge discovery!

So i was SO excited! I found a yummy chicken salad recipe that said "prep time 10 minutes" Wow! Delicious, healthy and FAST! Perfect. I started at 5:30 - plenty of time for 6:00 dinner right? I didn't get the dinner on the table until 6:40. This too shall pass....one of these days I can make a 10 minute meal in 40 minutes, hey I'd even be happy for 30 minutes, and extatic for 20. :) Meanwhile I'll love my precious helpers that dice the chicken oh so fine...read ultra-fine! And cut the grapes so meticulously...cut 1 eat 3...cut 1 eat 3.

I don't understand....girls like looking nice in their clothes....so why do guys have lots of options for pants....with waist and inseam clearly marked in their sizes.....32 x 36, 36 x 32. We girls have to settle for S, M, L, XL, and occasionally they come in short, regular and tall. Except for those of us who are statistically out of the bell curve (I loved statistics by the way).....and then tough luck with pants. I rarely can find an inseam long enough.... usually the longer the inseam, the bigger around the waist. :( I have the same inseam as Colt. :)

I finally found out what "Tam-pead" is! Silver keeps saying it over and over. We were reading and I always point out things in the pictures and have Silver repeat them. Mom: Dog Silver: Puppy Dog! Mom: Monkey Silver: Ooo Aaaa! Mom: Whale Silver: Shark! Mom: Mountain Silver: Tam-pead! Mom: Mountain Silver: Tam-pead! Aaaahhh! Finally broke the code!

I bet you can't spoon feed a baby her rice cereal without your mouth working - your mouth making the moves that you wish her mouth would make. Try it! I TRIED to not move my mouth...impossible!

Silver's words: (All Said with Gusto!) Ok Mom! Coming Mom! Thank you Mom! River Too! (She always watches out for River and wants to get her one of anything she gets). Said in a quiet voice - Whhhyyyy? Chiisss Stck (cheese stick) Tangy! Candy. Tummy Hurt - she doesn't eat well at meals and as soon as we get down, or especially go anywhere I get "Tummy Hurt - Hunggyy!" (Hungry) Tickied (Sticky) GO! (As in Let's Go!) Pottyy! It's a good thing that Mom's know their own kids language. It's funny how other mom's can't really make out what other kids are saying, but they can interpret their own. Well, most of the time. Silver will say the same thing over and over and over, many times I can't make out what she's trying to say, so I'll take her hand and say "Show Me" or she'll try to figure out a different way to say it.

River: "Mom, I've got a really hard question! I just can't figure it out!! So, Mommies have babies, and babies turn into Mommies. But if babies grow into Mommies and mommies came from babies what was first? Baby or Mommy?" Colt tells the girls a scripture story every night before bed. River loves her "stories that Really happened!" We told her that we would tell her the story of Adam and Eve for Scripture Story later that night. "Okay!"

Silver LOVES life - the bigger the better! She says "Big!" when she's washing dishes with me and she wants more water coming out of the faucet. "Big!" when she wants to be pushed higher on the swing.

River: "Mom, when I sleep in your bed, it's SO nice! When I sleep in my bed I feel like a lizard, frog and snake". Mom: "How does it feel to be a lizard?" River: "Wiggly! It's really hard to sleep when you're a lizard and so wiggly."

River and Silver have been having a really hard time going to bed. River comes in to tell me that it's not fair that she has to go to bed and I can stay up. We're a family she says, we should all do things together!

River has her backpack ready-to-go for school! Kindergarten doesn't start for another 7 months!!

Love Insurance

River talking to Silver: "Dad's going to the office. He earns money for birthday parties, books, our beautiful home and food."

A couple minutes later: "Mom, Dad earns our money....what would happen if Daddy died?"

River with her Daddy watching a movie

Mom: We would be Very Sad if Daddy died.  We would miss him Very much.  But as far as money - We have life insurance...that's when a lot of people pay some money and if one of the Daddy's die, then the life insurance gives their family money. We have life insurance so that if Daddy dies, our family will have enough money.

River: Oh. After a pause: MOM! What if Daddy didn't have life insurance?

Mom: Then I would need to go to work every day to get $$ to pay for everything.

River: Ooohhh! That would be SO sad!!

We then talked about how Daddy's job was to help people get life insurance. She brought up life insurance a couple of times that day and how greatful she was that Daddy had insurance, and that Mommy didn't need to work.

She was happy when we pulled up infront of Daddy's office the next day.  "Mom!  This is Daddy's office!  Life Insurance Office!

Movie Night!
When Colt's home - it's the funniest thing....
we all go from room to room like a school of fish following after Daddy!
If Daddy goes somewhere, it's not too long before most if not all of us are there too :)
He knows he's VERY loved!

As we were driving home, she was cute that she was trying to explain how thankful she was that if Daddy died we would have life insurance $$, it was difficult for her to come up with the words to explain her feelings:

Mom, When dad dies it will be great....no....i mean not great that he died but great that he had life insurance.....like.....I don't want dad to die, but it's nice that he has life insurance, when he dies, so you can stay home with us.

One more mystery of the universe figured out!!

Silver and Daddy!

I believe life insurance is one of the greatest things you can do for your family. When tragedy strikes, and you loose one member of your family....it's comforting to know that the kids can be taken care of by the Mom in the home instead of having to go out and work so hard to support her family.  This way the kids don't loose both parents - one to death, and the other to working.  Even though the Mom doesn't bring in a tangeable income, it is just as important to have life insurance on her too.  If she were to die, Daddy would be devastated and would want to take off some time to be with the family instead of having to jump back into work immediately.  I'm so thankful that we have life insurance on each of us...as with all insurance products, you hope you never have to use them....

I know it's uncomfortable to ponder, but seriously ask yourself....if my husband didn't come home today....what would I do?

If every Wife knew what every Widow knows, NO home would be without adequate Life Insurance. 
Life insurance is never for the one buying it...it's for the ones they leave behind....a true gift of love.....I like to think about it as Love Insurance.

It's amazing how inexpensive some life insurance products can be...Do you know that in many instances you can protect your family for around $20 a month?  $20 is worth it for that protection, and peace of mind!

Flip Flop Fashion

Here's Silver showing off the latest in Flip Flop Fashion!

Both of our girls LOVE flip flops and wear them any chance they can. 

To bring this fashion to your feet, be sure to flip your shoes (left on right and right on left). 

Then, and this is very important:  the strap goes between your 2nd and 3rd toes.

Stylin'!

So if kids have a 50% chance of getting their shoes on the right feet -

why does it seem that 90% of the time they are on opposite feet?  :)

Turning my blog into a Book

I turned my blog into a Book!

I love it!!

I used blurb.com

I researched a couple of different sites, and this one was the least expensive.

Since I rarely print out pictures, it is very nice to have them all printed out here.

I love having them all in one place. 

It's nice for kids to have pictures of themselves.  Colt's Sister made us a photo book for Christmas, and Silver loves the book - she always requests "The Family Book"!