What We've Been Up To

Once again a little behind in the blogging. Good thing keeping the blog current wasn't the top of the list of my New Year's Resolutions! I'd be failing miserably! But things have been a little busy here for the last couple weeks including a trip to Indy, Nick's Birthday, a new job at the library for me, and life in general. This next week is going to be a crazy one- so I thought I'd put some pictures up to tide you all over for a week or so until I have a chance to play catch-up again!! So without further yammering- here's a picture update on the goings-on in the Held House!

Doing dishes for Mama.

She is oh-so-grateful for the help.

A little reading before bedtime. I was getting her bedtime milk ready and came in to find her reading to herself. I love that she is really starting to love reading.

BIG SMILE!! We missed Elmo on tv so Mama opened the DVD from Great-Granny and Great-Grandpa.

She LOVES the Elmo DVD. We have since watched in about 1000 more times. I am beginning to know the lines...

Rachel likes to unravel the TP while I shower. She knows this is a no-no. One morning this week, I got out of the shower to find that she had tried to clean up after her fun. Gotta give her credit for trying....

I really need to do a whole post about the church, but long story short, it's on it's way to a new home and this week it was lifted off it's foundation and turned 180 degrees in preparations for the big move. The workers were kind enough to share with me they are waiting on highway permits before they can move it to the new location about 1/4 mile away. More to come on this one, PROMISE!

And something no one tells you about Motherhood- you are not allowed to go pee. If you do, you will come out to find your 19 month old standing on top of the kitchen table.

 I promise to be back to blogging and post more frequently than every two weeks!! If you're wondering what we're up to, watching Elmo is a pretty good guess these days!

Sous Chef

Rachel loves to help with just about any job we come up with. Now that she can push the chair to the counter on her own, she's becoming my little sous chef (whether I want her help or not). The other night, Rachel helped me with dinner preparations....and the camera was within reach.

Rachel helped get the broccoli read for steaming.

Broccoli is one of her favorites- so of course she had to sample it.

"It's better cooked, Mama."

Did you know you should whisk broccoli to enhance the flavor? Yeah, me either.

She's actually really good at whisking. The seasoning was perfectly blended in our rice.

She also enjoys stacking the spices...

Kiss the Cook!!

Mama's Little Helper- Dusting

As we've chronicled in previous posts- Rachel loves to assist with the chores around the house and farm. Monday, I unearthed my dust rags and can of Pledge and tackled the living room. The fact that we could have worked on letters with Rachel by writing in the dust on the tv stand is actually slightly less disturbing than the fact that it took me about 30 minutes to locate the Pledge. THAT'S how long it's been since I've used it... Anyways, as soon as she saw me dusting, she was ready to get right in there and get the job done. I do hope this trend continues into her teenage years!

Up high!!

Down low!

Double time!

Mama's Little Helper: Laundry

Rachel also enjoys helping with the laundry. That is, if by help, I mean taking the laundry out of the basket and throwing it on the floor. But if you're in need of someone to scoop the laundry soap out of the box and pour it into the washer, she is your gal!

Mama's Little Helper: Feeding Pepper

Rachel is my little helper. In the last couple of weeks, she has been very helpful with feeding Pepper. We're still working on her aim a little bit, but her passion for her work is obvious.