Saying Goodbye Is So Hard To Do

On Saturday morning, we dropped Doug off at a bus station in Janesville, so that he could go to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. He flew to Italy to attend the Nida School of Translation Studies for the next two weeks. That leaves me at home with the girls for 16 days on our own. The first 3 days have gone okay, but that first one where we said goodbye was a very sad day in the life of our little girls.

Here are some pictures from Saturday morning. Oh, how hard it it to say goodbye!

Daddy and Lizzie

Daddy with his little girls.

Emma just couldn't smile.

Abby put on a happy face, though.

Comforting Emma while Doug waited for the bus.

Standing in line waiting to board the bus.

One last hug for the girls before he got on the bus.

It's okay, Emma. I'm coming back.

Waving goodbye.

A silly face to make us feel better.

We were all sad to see him go, but we know that Doug is learning lots of new things and will have lots to share with us when he gets back. Besides, the day looked a lot brighter after we stopped and had McDonald's hot cakes and fruit & walnut salad for breakfast!

Uncle Ezra Stops Over

Uncle Ezra stopped by last Thursday night on his way to see baby Delaney in Michigan. The girls all enjoyed having some time to play with him. Lizzie was happy just to have him hold her while he walked around.

Ezra was on his way by Friday afternoon, but had a moment for me to catch a quick picture with the girls before he left.

Emma and Abby waved goodbye until they couldn't see his "classic" car anymore.

It's Emma and Abby...No, It's Shawn Johnson???

Ever since the Olympics, Emma and Abby have taken to pretending gymnastics all over the house. If only I had a dollar for every time I've had to tell them not to use the living room furniture as a vault or a trampoline....Anyway, Emma pretends she's Shawn Johnson, and Abby likes to be Alicia Sacramone (I think she likes the way her name sounds).

Here are Emma and Abby, er Alicia and Shawn...

Field Trip to the Zoo

We went to the Henry Vilas Zoo for a field trip during Emma's first week of homeschool. We learned about all the different kinds of animal feet, how they looked and were used differently than our own feet. Emma and Abby both enjoyed seeing the animals.

Here they are standing in front of the flamingoes.

They also pretended to be penguins.

Lizzie wasn't very impressed: she decided to take a nap while Daddy carried her.

Lizzie's Dedication

Lizzie was dedicated during our church's service on August, 31st, 2008. Lizzie was a good baby, didn't fuss or cry the whole time, not even before we went up front. In fact, she was very attentive. All she wanted to do was stare at the pastor, which she did very intently without blinking for several minutes...as you can see by the photos in time sequencing below.