How to use a swing set...

So, at this moment, the girls are outside enjoying an absolutely gorgeous summer evening. A perfect mid-sixties evening with just a little hint of a breeze. I just finished putting Isaac to bed, and came out and heard delightful squeals...and then I saw why:

Wedding shoot prep...

If you haven't heard, my little photography hobby is about to take a huge turn toward, well...it's making a huge turn. I was asked over the summer to do a wedding shoot for some friends that's coming up in just a couple weeks. Needless to say, I'm getting a little nervous about it. I want to do a great job for them, and I want to have a little fun with it as well. As I've been preparing, I've used my "guinea pigs" to help me. Yesterday I loaded them in the car and we went to the hotel that the wedding is going to be held at to test some shots out before the big day. It turned out to be a fantastic time though, and any time I get just to turn the camera loose on the girls, I always get some keepers!

Any time I say "smile" this is usually what I get...a little pose

Now this is a pose...lol

I just thought Cailyn's face in this shot was creepy...

Walking down the aisle...

I've seen this look a lot lately in photo-shoots, and I thought I'd make one up...I brightened this quite a bit. What do you think?

After a little "work" mocking up some shots for me, the girls turned the open space into a track meet...if only I could include the giggling noises!

And...it's football season!!!

Awe...

Are we done yet???

Speaking of the girls...

Not that I'm not ready to dedicate every post to Isaac or anything, because he's just cute as a button!, but I thought I'd give you a quick glimpse of what the girls have been doing through all of this. I know I've put on here before how they're becoming SUCH good friends and playing so well together. Well, tonight after dinner, they went in the kitchen and we heard a bunch of singing so I peeked around the corner to see what they were up to...

Cookies...

Hey, Jen here: We started our first week of summer break this week. I didn't want it to be a whole 2 months of just sitting around, watching TV and doing nothing in particular. So, I sat down and made a list of fun things I wanted to do or try with the kids. One of those things was to finally use one of the packages of real Nestle Tollhouse morsels I brought back with me from my time in the States.

Now, I have to admit, I'm not a great mom when it comes to involving the girls in the kitchen. The mess and disorganization stresses me out, and it's just "easier" to do it all myself. But, I knew they'd love making these together. So, I got everything together and out on the table beforehand. We all got gussied up in our aprons and hairbands and set to work.

I couldn't believe how smoothly it went, and how much fun we ALL had! I was so proud of them as they took turns, helped each other, and praised each other throughout the process. All I did was read out what we needed to do with each step. I helped Cailyn measure out the items, and only helped Hannah if she really needed it. Other than that, they did it ALL themselves.

I tried really hard not to train them to make cookies my way (aka, eat half the batter before you even put it on the baking sheet). And we did have to switch spoons a few times b/c someone couldn't resist the urge to sneak a lick. We did each get a spoon to lick when it was done, and of course a warm cookie at the end.

It was the perfect way to kick off our summer and I'm SO glad we did it all together!

Everything is set!

Cailyn carefully pouring the flour

...and stirring it up

Hannah's turn!

Such concentration...

You can almost hear a 'Homer Simpson' groan - mmmmm...cookies....

Carefully cracking the egg...so proud she did it all by herself!

Hannah proud of the finished mix...Cailyn - well...yeah...

Time to enjoy!

The warmth of the sun...

We have had some amazing weather this week! I think summer came in full when we weren't looking. It's so great when the weather is like this...everybody, and I mean everybody is outside; working in the garden, staring at the ocean, having a cup of coffee or tea while the sun beats down on them - it's all great. It's amazing the way it changes the mood of the place; Ireland is so "warm climate" in their culture in terms of relationships in that they're always willing to talk, friendly, and enjoy a chat. But with the sun and the amazing warmth, that's even more so. We see so many people that are normally just going about their daily routine outside enjoying the beauty. You may think it's a bit extreme, but people around here have learned: enjoy it while it lasts. I remember last August lighting fires because the warm weather didn't stay. When it's here, it's to be enjoyed like it's going away tomorrow...because, it just might!

A couple of pics of the girls savaging for sea shells. I was about to start fixing dinner when I decided a quick walk on the beach was in order. They love the beach!

School Walk Day

This morning was a fun day! The school Hannah goes to does all they can to encourage the kids to exercise and be active. So, aside from the sport day from a few posts back, they'll go on sporadic walks and explorations, especially when the weather is nice. It's almost as if the teachers see a sunny day, and as everyone else does here, find whatever excuse they can to be outdoors. So, this morning the whole school met at the local pub and had a mass Walk to School. Hannah really thought it was fun, and there was a good spirit all around. And with summer here, the weather being so gorgeous today, it was just an amazing addition to what is normally a routine activity!

Hannah decked out in her safety vest, ready for the walk!

This actually turned into a huge cultural experience for me...as I mentioned before, we met at where else? THE LOCAL PUB! Only in rural Ireland!

On Cailyn and my walk back to the car, there were a couple of horses that were really ready for some attention. So, we stopped, petted them and Cailyn thought they were great!!

Today's Cutie...

The girls have really enjoyed the weather lately. With the evenings really long right now, it's great for them to be able to enjoy being outside, sometimes right up until the go to bed. It's light now until past 10, which is great. Anyway, the other night the girls grabbed their bubbles after dinner and headed outside. I was able to sneak in a few shots of them having fun...here's one of Cailyn

Warning - do NOT stand on the blanket...

So, every parent has this happen; you have the video tape rolling, getting ready to get your kids to do something for the camera, and then an unexpected fall happens. And while that fall is sad and causes temporary sadness, the end result is a funny blooper that is great for a laugh. With that said, I give you last night...I was getting ready to film the girls singing Happy Birthday for their Granny, when Cailyn stood on Hannah's blanket. See how Hannah "handled" this one!

Sunsets and window-watchers

Ok, so I know that we've been putting up a lot of sunset pictures this winter...that's because as opposed to the summer when the sun is going down at around 10:30 or so, it goes down around 5pm. And, the colors are always amazing, so we shoot some pictures whenever we can. Well, the other night, Jen left for a quick errand, so I was alone in the house with the girls. Jen texts me almost immediately when she gets to the road to say the sunset is amazing, and so I had to go look. So, I'm left with no car, and this GORGEOUS sunset, so I think quick on how to get out to see it. (Please note, this is over Christmas break, and the girls were enjoying an all day jammie day, so going for a quick walk was out of the question. I suddenly remembered that in our windows in our bedroom, we have these nice 2 foot ledges just perfect for little girls to sit on! So, I ask the girls to stay put, and I go snap some pictures where they can see me standing on the highway...well, when I turn to come back to the house, they decided that the window they were sitting in may as well have been a stage, so they preened and smiled at me and really enjoyed their little perch! Here's a couple of them, and one of the sunset...

First ride on the bikes!!!

Well, we had a little rain around here, which was nice because it was actually warmer, so it melted the ice-rink we had out in back of our house. SO, we quickly went out this morning to test out the bikes! The girls were so excited to put their little helmets on, and get to it! There's some learning that has to be done, but they loved it and are looking forward to more!

Hannah gets on...all geared up!

She's ready to go!

Peddling hard...she's going to figure this out pretty quick!

Look at that smile! She loves it...and as you can tell, (Daddy's going to love it too with the steering/push handle built in)

Ok, so Hannah had just ridden down this hill, and Cailyn wanted to also...not a big hill, not going fast. But, it only took a second and a massive whip of the wheel to the left, and down she went...so we've had our first fall. As you can tell, I was too slow...

And, of course, the tears...but we'll be ready to go another day!!!

Christmas morning at the Deibel's house

Ok, so we have a couple videos of the morning that we wanted to share with our friends and family. The first is of the girls as they came down the stairs to see their stockings on the table...the excitement as they saw what they got is awesome! The video after is of the "big surprise" gifts we gave them. I've always looked forward to that Christmas when we'd give the kids their first bikes, so we snuck into the room we had them hid in, and taped their reactions...a sweet Merry Christmas at the end of that one from both of the girls. We do hope that you had a very Merry Christmas, and we pray many blessings on you, wherever you are, and we thank you for following our blog, supporting us with your thoughts, and all the blessings we have because of you, whether you're family or friend. Merry Christmas from the Deibel Crew!!!

Do you ever wonder...

...what happens just after a great adorable video is taken of kids singing a wonderful Christmas song for all their friends and loved ones to enjoy? Well...wonder no more! We present the "outtake" of the girls singing Away in a Manger...

...for your Christmas spirit

Bed time at our house usually consists of a story, prayer and a song. Since it's Christmas, we've been doing Christmas songs, and one of the girls favorites is Away in a Manger. They've come up with some "sign-language" for it and sing it so sweetly, I just had to get it on video and post it for you all. So, from our family to yours, we're wishing you a great Christmas season! (by the way, I'm singing in it too, and my apologies...they were having a hard time staying focused the first couple tries so I had to help them get through the song. Enjoy anyway! LOL)

Santa's Lap!

On Sunday, our village had their local Christmas fair, held in Hannah's school. It was a great event, and probably 80% of the community showed up to it at one time or another. There were crafts for sale, cookies and things for sale, and of course, plenty of tea and coffee. All proceeds were going to Hannah's school for fund-raising purposes. We had a lot of fun talking with people we knew, meeting new people and just having fun. The girls got their faces painted (which they were VERY excited about!!) and of course, they got to meet Santa. Now, since I'm a former kid myself, and have seen many Santa's, I have to say, this was the coolest Santa experience I've ever seen! When we got into the gym, we gave the workers the kids name and ages, and paid our fee for the sitting. Once we finally were brought into the room, it was magical! It kind of made me think of a Haunted house or something the way the first room was darkened and decorated (like Christmas, not Halloween!) and you had to walk to different room where Santa was. He was sitting in his throne-looking chair flanked by a decorated tree and a mocked-up chimney. All done well, and not cheesy looking at all - you really felt like you were walking into a story-book! So, Santa asked the girls (mind you, this is all in Irish, so we'd done some practice before we went into the room) what they wanted for Christmas, and of course they told him. He went through the usual, "Have you been good" etc. and just complimented them on how sweet they were. Then, all of a sudden, down the chimney came 2 bags! One each with their name on them packed with a few age-appropriate gifts like a coloring book and markers for Hannah and a toy music player for Cailyn; and of course some sweets! Santa presented them to the girls, and wished us all a Merry Christmas, and out the door we went. It was SO fun! I'm sure that may be the longest Santa's lap-sitting story you'll ever hear, but to us, it was just very awesome, and the girls really loved it. Around our house (*spoiler alert*) we know that Santa is make-believe, but we do understand that there's a lot of fun in pretending. It was a great day out, and here' the picture they sent us home with of the girls sitting on Santa's lap.

Stroll contintued...

Here's a few more pictures from our stroll the other night...

We had just come around from behind a house and the girls caught a glimpse of an airplane in the sky...

The sun-setting over the islands just off the coast

As we were walking back, the site of the sunset reflecting in the windows of the pub near our house was spectacular

And the favorite of the evening...the girls sharing a secret...

Evening Stroll...

One of the best parts about having the sun go down at 5pm is that the girls are awake for it. In the summer, it can be well past 11pm before it goes down, so it's virtually never dark for them. So, on clear days, we try to go out and walk and enjoy the cool evening air and see a cool sunset. While Jen was doing some stuff around the house, I bundled the girls up and we headed down a road near our house. It was a really fun walk, and I got some great shots of the girls...

Love the expression on Cailyn's face!

All of a sudden, they both had these blank stares on their faces...

What a cutie!

Sweet smile!

Trying to get some emotion in the photo-shoot, I asked Hannah to tell me about something at school...she was so into this story, and I got this when she was telling me that she got to go run in her little basketball room "2 times!!!"

Torrential Downpours

So, we had an interesting event the other day: It was the middle of the afternoon around the house. I was busy in the office doing some paperwork, Jen was doing some things around the house, Hannah was playing Indiana Jones on the Xbox (she loves that game!), and Cailyn was napping. When Jen decided that she needed to go to the store, I thought, "No problem!", so she leaves. within just a couple minutes, I hear Cailyn in the room right above the office starting to wake up. She sounds like something's wrong, which usually means that she's really ready to be out of her room. So, I send Hannah up to open her door, simply because that's usually all she needs and she loves it when Hannah gets her up from nap. The next thing I hear is Hannah coming down to tell me, "Daddy, Cailyn pottied in her bed," and she returns to the Xbox. (We'll hear from her later.) So I'm thinking to myself, "uh oh." Apparently my idea of letting Cailyn sleep without her trousers on was a bad idea because apparently she decided she didn't need her nappy either. And of course, there was a pool in her bed. Oh well...this stuff happens, and it's a part of her starting to potty-train, so I set out to take care of it. We have a little potty-trainer seat on the toilet, so I'm thinking she needs to get on that and make sure she's finished. Thinking she's ok doing that, I proceed to get sheets off the bed and find out what else was taken out with the mess. At this point, I hear Hannah cry out, "Oh no!" and then her feet patter into the bathroom downstairs. Since I have a load of sheets already, I decide to take them down and see what's going on with Hannah. Turns out the pee signal was still blaring in the house and Hannah had wet her pants while playing Xbox. Man...this just keeps getting better!! Well, in the mean time, I hear Cailyn starting to freak out upstairs, so I run back up there to see her now standing in the bathroom in the middle of another pool of pee just paranoid about the whole situation. To make matters worse, she now realizes that she was supposed to be on the toilet and turns to run the 5 feet to get on the toilet. The only problem was that she wasn't only standing on a tile floor, there was a plastic bag on the floor where she chose to pee. Inevitably, her first step was right on the bag. This made her foot slide right out from under her, and she fell back, landing right on her head. So, now she's laying in her own pee, freaking out and hurt. The poor girl! I picked her up, cleaned her up and put on a fresh nappy and some clean clothes while Hannah too got the same treatment, minus the nappy of course. All calmed down, sheets were ready to be washed, and life was normal again...for those 10 minutes, life was pretty crazy!! Life with kids...never a dull moment!

Striking a pose

I was going through some old photos looking for anything interesting I could post and came across this one of the girls. We'd stopped by Trim Castle on the way back from Dublin, and we got this shot of the girls on the castle wall. Don't quite know what Hannah was doing, but I LOVE the pose Cailyn has!

More Leaf Play

Wanted to post a couple more pics of the girls playing in the leaves...

The gang in front of the fountain in Aachen square

Hannah enjoying the leaves!

The effects of Cailyn throwing leaves - she pretty much dumped them on her head!

(pic taken by a friend of mine - I just thought it was awesome, so I had to post it!)

Going crazy

Ok, so today, we actually got a little rain here today, and it happened to be a day when we all needed to head to the mall we go to. Well, when we were done, and on the way back home, I noticed some funny stuff going on in the back. Cailyn is finally a forward-facing car-rider now, so she loves being able to see everything that's going on. So I look in the mirror, and I see both of our girls using those "head-pads" on the side of their car seats to bang their heads on. Back and forth they went, banging their head on one side, and then the other, all the while laughing themselves silly. It was so funny! Sorry we couldn't get a video of them both (oh how I wish you could see that), but it was quite a site. We nabbed Cailyn doing it for a minute though, so here you go...enjoy!