Liv keeps talking about how we’re going to “SLICE THEM UP.”

And then I have to remind myself about the Pumpkin Carving we’re hosting tonight.

Slice ’em, dice ’em, cut ’em up. Let’s do it.

I just returned from a fabulous weekend at the lake with the Horn Creek girls. Our last morning at the cabin Autumn commented, “Who knew resting could be so tiring?” and I fully agree. Between time with the girls and the great discussions with Joie on our roadtrip to Minneapolis (which, I must note, made Iowa’s landscape zoom by and deepened my relationship with my dear friend), I find myself back at home physically tired but emotionally renewed.

Being away for four days also made my daughter magically grow faster and become more articulate, and magnified my love for my husband. It is so good to be back with my family. And it was so good to be refreshed. More photos coming soon.

Today around 2:30pm I asked Jeremy if he could remember what we were doing four years ago, almost to the minute. He paused for a second, then yelled, “OH YEAH!” and took a flying leap to tickle-wrestle his favorite four year old on the couch.

Four years ago we walked into a split-level home in Kansas and became parents. We took in our arms a tiny baby girl, who felt quite foreign to us in that moment, and became forever attached to the family who birthed her and cherished her for the previous seven weeks. That afternoon we drove away feeling more rich, more blessed, and to be honest, more terrified than ever.

Happy Livia Day to Miss Livia Raine! We love you and are proud of you, our sweet girl.

Liv’s VBS photo

Dear’s Rest achieves, I believe, the best of both worlds when it comes to cabins in the woods and bed and breakfasts because it is both. Tucked away from the hustle and bustle of city dwelling, nestled deep in the Ozarks, this B&B offers privacy and solitude for guests. When you make a reservation you know that you’ll have an entire cabin’s worth of space to yourself—no sharing that clawfoot tub with strangers and no flimsy door between you and the honeymooners next door. However, Dear’s Rest is not just a cabin, it is a full-functioning bed and breakfast. If you’re enjoying a stay without your four year old, you just might awaken to Linda and Allan in the kitchen, creating one of their masterpiece breakfasts. (If you’re sleeping with your four year old, you’ll probably wake when the sun begins to peek over the horizon. “Mom, the sun’s out,” when translated, means “Look alive, Mom. Open your eyes, sit up and get out of bed!”)

And the breakfasts, oh, the breakfasts! Day one of our vacation included Linda’s specialty, fruit compote, a gigantic plateful of heart-shaped waffles with golden pecan syrup, a salsa & cream cheese omelet (now I’m drooling again), bacon and fried potatoes. For those who enjoy reading about food, I’ll continue… The next day we ate broiled grapefruit (seriously delicious), English Muffins Extraordinaire, fried potatoes and orange julius (the best I’ve ever tasted). The final day, the morning Jeremy and I held back so we wouldn’t go into food comas on the drive home, we oohed and aahed over a platter of sweet rolls, sausage, those delightful fried potatoes, and a cheese souffle. So so good. Tonight I’ve eaten a full dinner at home and I still wish I could take on one of Linda’s breakfasts.

We did attempt activities other than eating. After praying for sunshine in the days leading up to our getaway, we enjoyed a warm Sunday afternoon in the new pool (new-to-us at least, it wasn’t there ten years ago) and spent some good time splashing and wading in Bull Creek. When the heavens opened up and the downpours began, we played in the sleeping loft and watched Babe, the same movie Jeremy and I watched at Dear’s Rest on our honeymoon. For the life of me I can’t tell you why we watched that particular film when no children were about, but there you have it.

We even managed to bring a bit of the Ozarks home with us. A matching set of ticks: one for Liv and one for me. [shudder]

Last Saturday we drove 400 miles and parked in front of this tree. After 10 years of married living, we returned, this time with daughter in tow, to our honeymoon destination in the Ozarks. The weekend was fun, relaxing, peaceful, and just what we needed. Stay tuned for more blogging on Dear’s Rest.

Happy birthday, big girl! May you always have enough hats to keep the bees out of your hair(!), may you continue to make your mom and dad laugh a whole lot, and may the Lord bless you and keep you always.

We love you more than you can imagine, Livia Raine. Happy 4th birthday!

**Friends, if you have a Livia memory or story to share, I’d love to have them posted here for Liv to read later in life.

I could take pictures of eggs all the live long day. In the second shot, I placed my favorite dyed egg on the windowsill and asked Liv to give me her favorite one. As you can tell, her “baby bird” was already “hatching”.

Livia’s been entertained for an extraordinary amount of time by her basket full of dyed eggs. Sitting on the bottom step of the stairs, she’s been coddling them and whispering sweet nothings to her “baby birds.” Knowing the potential pitfalls, I allowed her to take her babies into quiet time (her hour of playtime in her room). A few minutes ago I peeked my head in, smelled an eggy odor, and was informed that one of her babies had hatched. No, really? The eggs have been unrefrigerated for 5 or so hours now so I was a bit worried when I couldn’t locate the entire hard-boiled egg. And then Liv told me she ate the “oke.”

“You mean, the yoke?” I said.

“No, the OKE.”

“It’s yoke.”

“Oh, okay.”

Oke, yoke, whatever. Hopefully I don’t see it again later.

One of my favorite aspects of this year is Liv’s language development. I get ridiculous amounts of joy over the way she combines words and uses language in general. This morning she kept talking about a show with a boy and his rabbit; Jeremy correctly identified it as “Velveteen Rabbit.” A little while later Liv was talking about the Valentino’s rabbit and I couldn’t help but smile. Only a Nebraska kid would say that…

We’ve experienced a few miscommunications as well. For Valentine’s Day I helped Livia create huge cards for her teachers, one which in large letters read, “MRS. COLE.” It was only last week that another preschool mom told me about something Miss Nicole said. Oh. Miss Ni-cole. Hm.

And finally, on St. Patrick’s Day I woke Liv up and told her she should wear green to school. We dug through her drawers and came up with a blue vest that had a green zipper and stitching. Later on I asked her to tell Jeremy why she was wearing that vest. “Because it’s cold outside,” she very nonchalantly explained. It took some prompting before she told him about “Saints of Patricks Day.” Nice.

I woke up this morning and look what I found… A beautiful new Prairie Box! What a valentine!

I love everything about this new design. In case you were wondering, it all came from Jeremy, not an ounce was designed by me. I love the font and colors, the scrollwork, the gray wallpaper design that grades out (that’s my non-technical description of it) as you scroll down. I love the prairie grass at the bottom of the page, and I love the small touches that only a designer would implement. Thank you, Valentine. I love you most.