Summer Lovin'

We are enjoying summer very much at our new place. Our days are full of gardening, playing dress up around the house, baby dolls or taking walks and playing at the park. Maggie even got a summer haircut in the spirit of the season. We also had a fun visit from Christine, John and cousin Brody last weekend and we'd like to encourage all family and friends to follow their example. Take full advantage of summer break and come visit us!

Maggie is really into role play these days. Underneath this apron is a tutu for when she plays ballerina, but right now (in this pic) she is a mommy. I know what she is pretending to be right away because she likes to announce "I'm a _____" whenever she switches characters. Just like the carebear video. But, she also likes to pretend to be a mommy, Grandma, baby, ballerina, Henry and sometimes she is just Maggie...which is a lot of fun too. She occasionally assigns the role of Daddy to Henry, which he plays quite well for an 8 month old.
Here is a shot of Maggie's new summer do. I chopped quite a bit off. Last time I cut her hair I said I'd never do it again, but here I am doing it again. I guess I'm just super cheap and would rather do it myself and then I figure she's so cute I can't really mess up.
Here's our little crawler and climber. The other day Tyler spotted him as he climbed the stairs. Tyler had to steady him just once, but he actually climbed to the top pretty much all by himself.
And, the picture you've all been waiting for...our garden is finally finished. Now all we have to do is water and wait for some yummy vegetables. I know it looks pretty small but it was quite a project.
And, I couldn't resist posting a few more pics of Henry.
This is his confused/concerned face...

At the Beach

2009 Zaepfel family beach trip! School is out...
We went to IOP South Carolina for a week, and we got to work right away building sand fancies! It was a lot of fun hanging out with our brother and sister's families along with Grandma and Poppa for some fun in the sun. We also celebrated my parent's 35th wedding anniversary which is actually today. Thanks for getting married mom and dad...we love you guys.
Maggie pondered the meaning of the ocean.
Henry having a bottle with Daddy.
Grandma was pretty busy this week, she is quite popular with the kiddies. If she's not holding one of them then she's reading to one of them or changing a diaper or making food..etc. She's pretty awesome. This particular book quickly became one of Henry's favorites. It's full of things that go like trucks, tractors and cars. Henry has been so inspired by it that he has started crawling. He would move all the way across the floor just to see the pictures. He is growing up so quickly he crawls and is now standing up in his crib when I go and get him in the mornings.
One day cousin Brody & Henry decided to wear the matching outfits Grandma got for them.
Maggie & Brody were unstoppable in the tide pools. We usually tried to wear "beach suits" as Maggie refers to her bathing suit, but somedays you just have to go for it especially if the tide is low and there are fun pools to play in.
But playing in dem tide pools makes you hungry for ice cream. Maggie ordered "Pink" flavored ice cream.
By the end of the week Henry and Poppa were exhausted!

Rainy Wedding @ The Beach

Carrie & Tyler Dirks went to a wedding on the beach in HH SC, and it rained! But, we had a lot of fun and it was our first beach wedding. There were dolphins jumping in the background. It would have been perfect if the rain hadn't come mid-ceremony. Congratulations Shannon and Jesse!

Bath Time, Henry Dress Up, Bath Time

If you haven't noticed it's been a while since we blogged, so we had to stick some random shots in here somewhere.like this one...cousins that bath together...will be embarrassed together when they get older.
Our good buddy Jay and his wife Kate were married a few weeks ago and Tyler was able to go to the wedding in Philly. When he returned he brought these fancy beach items for Henry from Jay's folks Carl and Sue. They are a little big but super cute.
This is the retirement picture of Henry in his green bathtub. Sadly he is too big for this now and has been making too much of a mess when he sits inside it so we've had to graduate him to the big kid bath. I am glad to see him grow, but it seems to be going by so quickly which makes me a little sad.

The Rain Barrell

So we are the proud new owners of a rain barrel. This fancy contraption collects the rain water off the house and stores it for our convenient usage. We are planning on using that water to feed our tiny garden. Pictures to come of that later on...as in when we have actually planted something. But, we do have the rain barrel...baby steps.

I'm A Care Bear

lessons from a two year old.

Saturday morning was going to be a busy morning as I planned it out in my head friday night. I was taking the kids to my Aunt and Uncle's house via a route I'd never been before and then heading to a baby shower (which I was helping out with). After the baby shower I'd have to go back and get the kids and then take them back to our place for naps. Tyler was out of town and so I was trying to be responsible and well thought out in my plan of action. You can probably guess where this is going. We were doing pretty good Saturday morning and we were out the door all before 9am, dressed, fed and packed for a day of fun with the Zaepfels. However, after about a forty five minute trip and a sign that read "Welcome to Cornelius" I knew something wasn't right. I was lost and getting later by the minute. I didn't think I was voicing my frustration to my two year old and seven month old in the back seat, but I know they picked up on my anxiety. Maggie was mumbling something in the back seat and I was ignoring it while I called for directions and got turned around and going the actual way. When I finally felt like we were back on track and headed in the right direction I listened to what my daughter had been "mumbling." I looked in my rear view mirror and Maggie had her eyes tightly squeezed shut and was repeating "Dear Pah-doh Hep Mommy." It actually took me a second to realize that my sweet little girl was praying for me in my anxious state saying "Dear Father Help Mommy." My heart was pretty convicted at that point that in my own frustration I didn't even think to cry out to my Father for help, but my two year old had my back and was fervently praying for us to find our way without even being prodded. I don't really know how much Maggie actually understood of what she was doing, but the fact that she knew that we pray in times of need is pretty astounding to me. I don't think I even get that lesson at 28 sometimes.

"Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength..." -Psalm 8:2

The Lord uses the weak to silence the strong or those of us who think we are strong and can do it all by ourselves. I thought I could handle my busy Saturday without the help of my Father, but the Lord used my little one to show me that He is Jehovah Jireh and He provides a way for me not anything I do in my own strength.