Thankful hearts

Last week as I stared out at the ocean stretching farther than I could see, I was amazed at God's creativity and love for us that He would give us such a beautiful and majestic expression of His glory and goodness. However, when I am at home playing with my girls or singing to a sleeping child I am filled with the same wonder.
My heart overflows with thankfulness to a God that would enrich my life with the fun and the challenges of raising two such beautiful expressions of God's creativeness and love.

This week we had the opportunity to visit some family and have had a great time. I am so thankful for family that loves and supports us.
The girls have new and fun experiences all the time. I am grateful that God has filled our lives with fun memories. My days are full of laughter as I watch the girls explore and try to figure out the world around them. Just the other day, Bryan and I were saying that we had two girls just so they could chase each other around the house.
Sweet moments...I couldn't take enough pictures to capture the sweet moments that fill my days!
I would be lying if I said that every time I saw their curiosity displayed, my heart leaped for joy. I have realized how much I grunt or groan in frustration now that I hear Emma making the same noise in frustration. However, I am glad that God gave them curious minds and able bodies that allow them to explore and discover things even though it may cause extra work or momentary frustration. God gives me every bit of energy I need in order to do the job He has given me to do.
Thank you God for sacrificing your one and only Son to bring joy to my life! I am most thankful for my Savior who gave His life in place of mine so that I can experience the blessings of God that this sinful child doesn't deserve.

Oh, Happy Fall!!!

WE LOVE FALL!!!! Mommy says this is her favorite time of year and now I understand why! There are so many fun things about fall. Erin and I have really had fun playing in the leaves. Mommy piles up all the leaves and says it is o.k. for us to run and jump and sit in them. It took us a while to get used to it, but now we understand why Mommy likes to sit and play in the leaves so much.
There are so many of them!
My favorite part is eating the pears that fall off of our tree. I am sad that they are almost all gone. I like to hunt for the perfect pear and sit outside and nibble until the bees drive me back inside.
Erin likes the pears too. I am teaching her to do everything I do; she can even say "mine." See, I am a very good teacher.
We also looooove to swing. Mommy and Daddy really need to get another swing so we don't have to share so much, but we are learning to be good sharers. Mommy sets the timer when we get in and when the timer goes off, we know it is time to switch.
See, I told you, Erin likes it too....a bunch. That is something else I guess I taught her.
The thing I like the best won't even go away when winter comes. The leaves are nice, the pears are yummy, the swing is fun, but my absolute favorite is my sister, Erin. She is always there. She laughs at all my jokes, even when Mommy and Daddy don't get them. She even makes me laugh when things get a little boring.
The wagon is so much more fun with two!
Who would I talk to if she weren't here? Mommy says I like to boss, but Erin knows I am just encouraging!
We share lots of stories. She is a really good listener, and becoming a better talker. Like I said, I am a good teacher.
Singing is always fun. Mommy teaches us all kinds of songs. We like "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider" and "The wise man built his house upon a rock." Mommy's not a bad teacher either, I guess. We also like to make things together when we have to stay in the house. We play with noodles, toilet paper tubes, boxes, finger paint, and anything else Mommy can think of.
Adventures are more fun with someone to share them with. Fall is great, but any season will be perfect with my sister! Oh, she feels the same way, too!

We are still here!

Hey there, everyone! This is Emma. Mommy has been really busy chasing and playing with me and Erin. She says she is sorry, but dishes and laundry have to be done before the blog. Anyway, she is still busy, so I decided to take over. I am good at doing that. So.....I don't really know where to start because it has been so long. Oh, I know! I am 2 whole years old now and Erin is one. She is getting big, but I am bigger! We had a big parpy, oh I mean, party. Lots of family came and we had so much fun. We were going to roast hotdogs and play outside, but the rain kept chasing us inside. Anyway, I had so much fun that it is still my favorite thing to talk about.
Erin and I are so big now that we got our own chairs. Look how grown up we look.
Thanks to my Grammy, we had a great Curious George cake. It looked so cool and tasted even better. Erin made a big mess, but I only made a little mess.
We had lots of presents and had fun opening them all. Mommy had to help a lot because we kept getting distracted, but, hey, that's what little kids do, right?

See, I told you Erin made a big mess. I think this picture says she has had enough cake!
See, and look how big I am being eating my cake like a two year old girl!
My grandpa and Aunt Valerie got me this cool car for my birthday and Papaw was pushing me. I like it a lot. I like to pretend I am going to the store and buying milk and cheese and crackers.
Here we are with Aunt Lucinda and Aunt Beth. I told you we had a lot of people at my party. I am so thankful that so many people love me and think I am so special. Oh, they think Erin is special too. That's ok, we can both be special at the same time.
Erin liked the tunnel on our princess tent a lot except she kept forgetting to crawl, which is what you are supposed to do. I know that because I am two and now I know lots of things that I didn't know when I was one. I am trying to help Erin learn too. Mommy says I am being bossy, but I am just telling Erin what she doesn't know and showing her how to do things my way, I mean the right way.
She may not know as much as I do, but she sure is cute. I also think she is the best friend I have.Erin always laughs at me even when Mommy and Daddy don't get my jokes. She can run and jump and wrestle with me. Well, I think she can wrestle. Mommy doesn't think it is a great idea, but it sure is fun!
Some people even say I am cute too. What do you think? I really like this pink hat. It is my favorite to play with.
A new friend of mine let me play with her dress-up clothes and that was a blast! How come we don't dress like this everyday? I think Mommy would look great in a skirt like this.
Well, just wanted to give you a little update! We are having fun as always. Maybe we will slow down some so that Mommy can update you more. But even though she is busy, I think she is having fun too. We hope your lives are fun and exciting too! Have a wonderful week!

Curious Emma

This is Emma. She is a good little girl and always very curious. Emma always likes to watch her Mommy cook. All kinds of good smells come from the kitchen when Mommy cooks. Mommy cooks all kinds of good tasting food like pizza, spaghetti, and chicken! Emma's favorite is always noodles. Emma especially enjoys noodles when they are completely covered in cheese!

Mommy uses lots of different pots and pans and spoons and spatulas. Sometimes, Emma gets to play with the pots and pans and she imagines cooking the most wonderful foods! Everyone loves to eat Emma's food. She holds the best tea parties her Mommy and Daddy have ever seen. However, her biggest fan and most often dinner guest is her sister, Erin. Erin thinks Emma is the best cook ever. She is even better than Mommy because imaginary food always taste better than the real thing, because you never have to eat your vegetables when you pretend.

One day, Emma was watching Mommy cook. "Wow! What are in all those little bottles?" Emma wondered. Over and over again, Mommy would pick up these little bottles and shake them over the pan. Emma was curious. What ever was in those bottles must make the food taste so good. "Maybe," Emma thought, "those bottles have a secret ingredient that makes the food taste yummy or maybe it is magic." She had to find out.

That afternoon when Mommy had to change Erin's diaper again, she told Emma, "You stay here and be a good little girl and I'll be right back. And don't be too curious." Emma remembered the magic bottles. She wanted to know what was in those make-everything-taste-good bottles. Quickly, she stretched up on her tippy-toes and reached her hand far above her head to the counter beside the stove. There! That was it! She had it! Now she would know the secret and really be able to impress Erin. Emma quietly made her way to the living room ottoman, which was her stove. How could she find out what was inside this bottle? It looked like red sand. How could red sand make food so special? She tried to do exactly like she remembered Mommy doing. She shook and shook and shook. Now the whole ottoman was covered with red powdery sand, but nothing was happening. Maybe if she tasted it. Emma covered her hands in the mysterious powder. She was really having fun now. She thoughtfully licked her hand. It definitely tasted different than usual but not like spaghetti or chicken.

Just then, Mommy came in and saw the red powder which was all over the ottoman and Emma. After washing Emma's face and hands, Mommy explained that the red powder was a spice called paprika. Spices go into the food to make it taste better. Mommy says there is no magic in cooking, but Emma is still convinced that something special takes place over that kitchen stove.
Just a side note! Erin will not be overshadowed or outrun by Emma, she is walking! She is also just as curious as her big sister. I'm sure this will not be the last episode of the Curious Barnett girls.

Vacation

We just got back from our travels to Toronto, Canada to see friends of ours, Daniel and Adina, and their daughter, Salome. We had a wonderful time. It was great to get away from the normal and do fun things with our friends and our little girls.
We went to a safari park and saw all kinds of animals and the girls had the most fun playing with the rocks, go figure.
Emma loved the elephants, but when they came this close she lost all interest. However, she did touch it even though it was kind of against her will.
The only thing that was keeping her this close to that goat was her Daddy's arm. The goats loved Emma though, but they liked Bryan's shirt better (they were eating his clothes).
Erin has no fear yet and just reached out and grabbed a hold of that goat's ear. The goat has probably developed a new fear since our visit.
Emma and her new friend, Salome played very well together. Emma really enjoyed having someone else around her size to run around with and imitate.
On our way home, we stopped by the Children's museum in Pittsburgh. The curious George exhibit was in and we had a blast! Emma loves George.
She splashed around in the water on the third floor, until we finally pulled her away.

One more stop at Stonewall Lake in West Virginia. It was hot!!!!! We braved the boat ride anyway and enjoyed retreating inside for dinner afterwards.
After all our travels and busy activities, the girls really had the most fun hanging out and playing with each other. Here Erin is playing in the entertainment center at the hotel and they also enjoyed playing in the shower! All in all, a good time was had by all and we are so grateful to Daniel, Adina, and Salome for their generosity and hospitality.

Lots of pictures

We had the girls' pictures made the other day and we couldn't get over how well they turned out. Here are just a few of my favorites. There are a lot of pictures on this blog, but I hope you enjoy glimpsing into moments of our life with two sweet, curious, mischievous, fun blessings from God.

It took us a while to get this picture. Emma kept hugging too fast and Erin kept pulling away sure that Emma was up to some mischief. After this long living with her, Erin knew Emma was probably pulling a fast one on her. After all, she is a pacifier thief and I'm not sure but Erin might remember being bitten by her precious sister.
This is Bryan's favorite.
Emma kept sticking out her tongue. I think because she knew she was cute. What a ham.
Tea parties, life with little girls would be incomplete without them.
There's that tongue again. Her cute look.
What a cutie pie.
I love this one. We are so blessed with such a wonderful place to take pictures. I cannot believe this is where we live! God has blessed us beyond imagination. We could never thank him enough.
There we are! That is a lot of personality in one picture!
The fourth of July is always a big occasion for us. We hold a soccer tournament and cookout for the Mexicans that we minister to during the year through English lessons and Bible study. It was very hot, but we have about 80 come out and they had a great time playing soccer. Emma and Erin did really well and had a blast. Emma made a new friend and earned his affection (as much as a 2 year old boy can give) by taking him chips.
Emma and Erin both love watermelon. She was enjoying some time with her Daddy after he spent all morning cooking at the grill.
My big stander-upper! She is so close to walking. She isn't even crawling on her knees anymore. She crawls on her hands and tiptoes. She can't wait to go running after Emma. Boy, can I wait a little bit longer for that to happen!
Well, we hope you all had as much fun as we did! We are loving our summer and our already dreading seeing it come to an end. But we are going to juice all the fun out of it while it is here. Have a wonderful summer and thank God for every blessed moment of it!