Summer Snapshots

We are loving us some summertime here at the Lehman house.  Our weekends have been busy, busy but the weekdays have been low key lately and I'm ok with that.  These girls have been keeping me entertained.  I cannot believe how much they are growing, changing, learning.  We will be celebrating Natalie's third birthday next week and Brielle's first in another month!  That kind of makes me want to cry.  It's in these moments that I realize I must savor, savor, savor these days! Here is a sneak peek into what's been keeping us busy. I cannot possibly look at these pictures without realizing just how blessed I am!


Hans with Natalie and Amirah at the fireworks.  Such joy in this picture.

Brielle's first time in a pool.  She liked it, but what she likes even more is the sprinkler!  This little girl is hilarious and has little fear.

Natalie loves the water!  She surprised us by jumping off the diving board (with her floaties and Hans there to catch her).  She is usually cautious, but not so much when it comes to swimming. 

Brielle loves her Pappy and I love the amount of time he spends loving on my girls.

Uncle Mwita is always a big hit!

Lake Tobias - this was a fun, hot day.  Natalie really enjoyed feeding the animals on the Safari and chasing the goats at the petting zoo.  Brielle was a trooper.

Little Miss Personality

I just love these pictures I took of Natalie yesterday. She is little miss personality these days. She keeps us on our toes with her ideas and questions. She is also showing us the beauty and challenge that is all the emotions of little girls. It is eye opening to me as I explain to her the control we have over our emotions. Definitely an area where I'm being challenged to act, not just speak! Here's my beauty...

Happy Valentines Day!

I've long been a fan of Valentines Day, and not just for the expectation of chocolate and flowers and romantic perfection. I don't really consider myself much of a "romantic." However, a day to give sweet cards and treats to those you love - how can you resist? This year, Natalie was all on board too, which has just increased my love for this day.

We started last week by making these Valentines for her cousins and church friends (not to fear, cousins, you will receive them soon). We started small, but she LOVED this first attempt of making her own Valentines. Let me just say she was queen of that glue stick.

The thing I love is that Natalie knew exactly what she wanted for Valentine's - a red heart balloon and green flowers. I'm really not sure why green, but her daddy did not disappoint. (We had a little trouble keeping the balloon still long enough to get it and the flowers in the same picture).

Brielle was not left out of the festivities either.

Here she is again with her Valentine shoes and my beautiful flowers in the background - I love my husband. He has a lot of girls to please these days and he's done quite well!

Happy Valentine's Day! If you need some treats, come here! We have plenty to share :)

Natalie and Amirah

These girls are something else. There is very seldom a dull moment in our house during the day. Now that Amirah is on the move, the dynamics of she and Natalie's relationship is also on the move (i.e. she can get into Natalie's space rather quickly rather than Natalie only being able to get into her space). Needless to say, Natalie is not sure how she feels about this. So drama ensues. They really are great friends though, most often. You can tell by the way Natalie calls out "baby" (which sounds a bit more like "bubby") as soon as Amirah comes and the way Amirah's face lights up. Cute kids, I must say :)

It's next to impossible to get a picture of the two of them together, but I have mentioned to get a few in the past few days. Here's a little peek.

Natalie loves climbing into anything - baskets, boxes (whether she really fits or not). Amirah is mostly game for whatever Natalie has attempted - so fun to watch!

Watching Sesame Street (it was only a few minutes, Melanie, I promise!)