It's an Actual Letter

I actually wrote a letter update for snail mail...gasp..I know!! It feels rather old fashioned but I have a bunch of family pictures to distribute. I thought I'd share here first. :-) Now I have to actually write out addresses and such...hmm if I can find any. I left out addresses for privacy purposes. Anyway, here it is: 

Greetings from ....! Yes, we’ve moved. We’re no longer the village dwellers of ..... We’re the country bumpkins of ...... J

Our  house had an accepted offer within one day of listing it, and we found out about our hobby farm through an acquaintance of Darla’s dad.  Everything fell into place perfectly and we feel like it was meant to be.  

Rhya and Brielle love our new place beyond measure. There was no ‘transition period’. They adapted from the first day. We bought a bunk bed (since there are only 2 bedrooms on the main floor) and Rhya was delighted to experience top bunk snoozing. The top bunk is also a favorite hangout for both girls during the day.

We’ve had fun dabbling in ‘new things’, such as planting apple trees, finishing off the basement (still in process), burning down a junky shed,  acquiring some new pets (kittens and goats so far), purchasing a riding mower, and much more for the future!

The girls have been busy growing and learning all sorts of new things over the summer.  It’s a joy to witness the two of them start to interact and play together for extended periods of time.  Rhya is very aware of how to engage Brielle on her level. There are still plenty of squabbles, but that just adds to the overall love, right? J

Highlights:

-          Rhya rides her balance bike every chance she gets.  Even if we’re only going from the house to the shed she has to go find her balance bike and cruise on down.

-          Kittens. They are LOVED. Rhya carries them all over (when she’s not on her bike), protects them from Sakari, and snuggles them multiple times a day.

-          We’ve gotten acquainted with George, the 90 year old neighbor man from the farm across the road. He regularly presents us with bouquets of flowers from his pristine gardens. He has also delivered a few bags of apples from his tree.  He’s incredibly sweet and always has a little sparkle in his eyes.

-          Brielle is our little monkey with her own language.  There’s so much to explore in her mind. At any given moment she’ll be standing on a chair trying to rock it back and forth, running down the hills in the yard, climbing up and down the bunk bed ladder, and scurrying around on her little jungle gym.

-          Brielle signs a few words, says ‘eh’ a LOT, and utters a few little words, like, please (eese), thanks (anks), yeah, all gone (ahonng), moo, MOOMMMMMAA!!, Rhya (ahra)… She also likes to use long jibberish sentences.

-          Rhya asks questions about almost everything and then follows up with ‘why’?

-          Rhya has discovered the fun of having ‘friends’ and asks when she’ll see her cousins and friends again. She slept over at her Grandma’s for a few nights over the summer and loved every minute.

Our new address is .... We love company so come visit!!

Today's Rhya

"I have your earknobs, Mommy" (when she's tired she likes to hold my earlobes)

"Look at all the glittering" (pointing out the littering at the side of the road)

Rhya: "Where'd that bad guy go again?"
Me: "Who?"
Rhya: "That naughty guy that is in fire"
Me: "Oh, the devil?"
 Rhya: "YEAH the devil. Where'd he go again?"
Me: "Hell"
Rhya: "YEAH hell. He was probably hitting ppl. Where is hell? Can we drive there?"

Rhya: "I bet Auntie Kristina will eat all the cake tonight cause her baby in her tummy is really really hungry."

Me: What do you think Mike and Kristina will name their new baby?
Rhya: Sophiea Birdin (Sophia stems from a conversation w' Gma Jane. We asked her if she had name suggestions and she's always suggested Sophia cause it's her middle name. Not sure where Rhya came up with Birden. Noticed I spelled it nicely :-) )

Rhya: "So how'd that baby get in Auntie Kristina's tummy?"
Me: "She put it in there when she decided she wanted another baby. Now it has to get  big enough to come out. (how'd I do? How would you answer??)

                                    The girls were elated to have a surprise visit from Auntie Kayla

Family Picture

Letting Go but Clinging On

I cannot fathom the thought of letting Gma go. She has always been there. Attended every single little childhood concert and recital. Took us birthday shopping every year as kids. Treated us like queens when we would visit. Mended any item she saw necessary (and was not afraid of projects that many people would balk at!!). Visited both of our girls the day they were born. Brought bread and jam and all sorts of goodies a few weeks after we were home with our newborns.

Steady. Not fazed by a thing.
Grounded. Faithful to her god.
Oh so kind. She loves striking up a conversation with anyone she comes in contact with. Every person she talks to can feel completely comfortable in her presence.
Oh so generous. She knows exactly what everyone needs and finds great joy in presenting them with her secondhand finds.
Just last week she presented the girls with a wooden puzzle and 2 small chairs. She called that morning, wondering if she and Gpa could come down after supper to see our new place. I will always remember that enjoyable evening..just an evening of chatting about this and that. It didn't really matter what we talked about. It was just fun to be together.She didn't eat much of the snack but just made a side comment that her digestive system wasn't working as well as it used to.
Fast forward one week. Pancreatic Cancer. The big 'C' word. 6-12 months left. She calmly took it in stride and is glad for the good 75 years she has had.

Can I soak up these last months with her to the max? Memories come flooding back. I intend to write them down and share them with her whenever we see her.
I feel so lucky to have a grandma that has created such a halo of happiness throughout her family. She has so much to look forward to.

One Child Short

Rhya went to her Gma Mo's house for TWO WHOLE NIGHTS!!! We feel rather lost without her but Gma Mo has been gracing my inbox with lots of pictures and videos. What a special Gma to spend so much one on one time with her grand kiddos. I KNOW that I miss Rhya miles more than she misses me...which is great!! She feels so at home w' her Gma and is getting LOTS of one on one attention. :-)

Rhya had four requests:

1) Spend FOUR nights with Gma (in other words she just wanted to be there a LONG time so we changed it to two nights which is all this mama can handle!)

2)Sleep in a sleeping bag. Looks like Gma Mo found one:

3) Have her cousins Kylie and Karena over. Bill and Shanda happily obliged and brought the girls over for the afternoon. I received lots of fun texts that the girls were having a blast. Rhya looks up to her cousins tremendously. It's so cute. I just just FEEL the adoration in this pic:

4) Go to a bible study meeting with them. Mission accomplished! 

I am sure that every time one of these requests was ticked off the list she was pleased as punch. :-)

I love how Rhya is beginning to comprehend things that are special. 

I am sure I will hear all about the

 - mac and cheese, cantelope, and pea meals

- bike ride through the trails

- tea parties

- snuggle time w' Gma

- Play time with cousins

- mtg

- fun snacks

- dog play

- and on and on.

source;

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://picturesquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/My-Grandma-Quote.jpg&imgrefurl=http://picturesquotes.com/walking-with-grandma/&h=493&w=400&sz=63&tbnid=P0p3WCjN6cuIFM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=74&zoom=1&usg=__2d6tVo0T4We1YkKFGs0pLIJyBqA=&docid=BQ2V2Ow0OuhHCM&sa=X&ei=A9wWUunNJufr2QXM-4CoDg&sqi=2&ved=0CDEQ9QEwAQ&dur=12148

A Spoonful of Kindness

Kind people surround us. News gets hung up on the 'bad stuff' and I do too at times. However, this week there have been so many sweet things that touched my heart.

The first one was, of course, my sweet daughter. I expect so much patience and gentleness out of Rhya toward her little sis'. Rhya got annoyed at Brielle today (cause Brielle was chasing after her trying to take something) so Rhya let out an exasperated, MAJORLY LOUD scream. I gave Rhya a stern look and told her it was highly inappropriate, and shut her door. Five minutes later she came out and we started talking about something totally new and unrelated to the incident. There was a pause and she quietly uttered, "I'm sorry for screaming, Mommy".  My heart melted and we hugged.
**note- she has been frequently asking me to read a book where the boy lies and then gets scared at night and yells out that he's sorry for lying** Outside impact does so much more than my measly preaching!!

Another recurring incident has been our super sweet, brand new 90 year old neighbor. He has brought over FOUR beautiful bouquets of flowers just out of kindness. He never pats himself on the back because of it. He just honestly LOVES to bring a smile to our face. He always says how he thinks our dog is so nice and how much he loves good neighbors and good moms (ha). Today we stopped and talked while on a walk and he offered us the apples from his apple tree. Then he paused and clasped his hands together and with a twinkle in his eye said, "Well!We just love you so much." What a dear. I have no clue what we did to make him love us. I think he loves everyone he meets. :-) Whenever we leave from a conversation Rhya says, "George is so sweet!"

Nate's Uncle Randy, Aunt Brenda, and little 6 year old cousin Autumn came over for an evening. The entire evening Autumn was very pleased with her little wallet that had one dollar and some coins inside. She carried it around EVERYWHERE and opened it up at times so we could take little peaks at her treasure. As we were cleaning up from supper I saw Autumn whisper something to Brenda. Brenda smiled and told to me that Autumn wanted to pay us her dollar in exchange for the supper. How sweet is that?!? She could've thought of a million ways to spend her dollar but instead wanted to give it to a cousin's wife that she hardly knew. My heart has been softened...

What's new, you may ask?

Too much to post about, I say!
A new house update is coming, but for now I will post a picture of my lovely lady:

She is my little sunshine. She's still my shadow, but becoming more and more Rhya's shadow every day. Rhya knows what to do to make her laugh and she also knows how to play on Brielle's level.
It's very common for Rhya to urge, "Brielle!! Come play on the bunk with me!!" Brielle giggles and goes running off to climb to the top bunk and play with kittens or books or just romp around up there.

Brielle knows how to make a person laugh. She enjoys tilting her head sideways and looking up at you slyly with a mischievous grin. She'll hold the pose until she gets your attention and then laughs and RUNS away.

Brielle is NOT to be left out. She ended up with her own electric toothbrush and points to her teeth and says "AAH" every time she sees someone else brushing.

Just give her some livestock and she'll be happy for a LONG time.

Rides are great fun. We were hauling apple trees up the hill tonight and the girls were in their glory. The hike up the hill was interesting but Brielle just bounced along and Rhya tramped behind.

Brielle holds a special key to her big sister's heart.

A picture perfect way to end another day with these sweet peas.

Things I don't want to forget about Brielle:

- The way she burrows her head into my shoulder whenever I ask, "Do you want to lay your head on my shoulder?

- The way she hops up and down w' glee (not really hopping, more like fast squats) and breaths in and out super fast whenever I ask her if she wants something.

- The way she says MA-Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- The way she asks to nurse (quickly taps her thumb and pointer finger together)

- The way she signs please- puts both hands on top of her head (she totally made it up)

- The way she says 'Rhya': Arah