The Blonde Renstroms

Mercy at 23 months

2012-02-02T22:36:00.001-05:00

So seriously, Mercy is a nut. She is so stinking funny... And she knows it. She's constantly getting into things...

... And is very mischievous... Like taking her socks and shoes off in the grocery store and throwing them overboard undetected. Oh, good thing Shelly was hanging out with me that morning and walked the aisles looking for the discarded items ;)

She also just recently started doing "grumpy old troll" (song from a Dora video).... Bennett and Eden will jump in front of us all the time and make us say a password (usually Popsicle, Sound of Music - aka "Seven Children" - or icecream) to get by. Mercy did it for the first time this week. So cute! But she doesn't quite get it yet... Sometimes she'll stand behind us or beside us and do it.

Verbally, she has exploded since Christmas. This week she said her first sentence (kind-of): "More gum, Mommy." She also says, "it's hot" and "Eww, gross!" and will repeat almost any word we ask her to. She says her name "Mermeece" We are currently working on getting her to use words instead of screaming when she wants something (or doesn't want something!)She is still taking a long afternoon nap (1-4 or so) and going to bed between 7 and 7:30, and waking up around 7am. This girl needs her sleep. She loves showing people her belly (yes, random) and playing with her dolls. (I'll hear her yelling "shew! SHEW!!" which is my clue to go grab a diaper and wipes for her baby doll - ha ha!) By far her favorite thing in the whole world is GUM ;) We are discovering that we have Little Miss Personalty on our hands!

Daniel's phone

2012-01-27T14:25:00.007-05:00

Daniel just moved a bunch of pictures off his phone onto the computer... some of them I've never seen before. Thought it would be fun to put some on the blog.
These were probably from last spring...

This is Dave O. Who knows what he's doing? :-)

Daniel trying on glasses this Christmas.

This summer... look at those tan blondies!

This October Mercy got to ride on a plane for the first time with Daniel down to Tampa for Jake and Katie's wedding (the other 2 girls and I drove down a few days earlier. The one-year-old not in the car for 2 days? Yes please.)

I have no idea what the story is behind this picture, but I love it!

Happy 5th birthday, Bennett!

Cheese!

Bennett and Daniel apparently found the best scone in the whole wide world last fall, but can't remember now where it came from. Boo!

Rehearsal dinner picture in 20 years?

The next 2 pictures are from when Daniel and Bennett (and Daniel's parents, LeighAnna, Adam and Greta) went out to Denver to visit Mimi and Papa Renstrom in December.

Just last weekend - Daniel's mom came up with Nat and the kids. Embassy Suites pool in January - woohoo!!!

Rocks

2012-01-26T22:09:00.001-05:00

We have a house-full of toys... That the girls rarely play with. What's really fun?Rocks.

Bennett posing with Eden posing with rocks. We are in the art museum courtyard beside a mirrored wall... Very cool.

(Mercy remembering how awesome rocks are....)

Off she goes! Rocks, rocks, rocks!

I made Eden put the rocks down so she posed with a McDonald's cup instead. (check out mercy in the background with a handful of rocks)

And Mercy with more rocks.

Anyone want our toys? ;)

Not sure this will end well...

2012-01-22T15:36:00.001-05:00

Eden painting Mercy's fingernails. It's washable... I think.

Little Miss Grown Up

2012-01-22T15:33:00.001-05:00

So far today, without being asked, Bennett has:1. Completely unloaded the dishwasher. 2. Washed the windows.3. Flossed her teeth (????)4. Ironed her shirts (pretended, at least)A middle-aged lady trapped in a 5-year-old's body.

Aftermath: "She's Better Than Dreams"

2012-01-15T14:22:00.001-05:00

So, here it goes... a musical review by a confessing non-musician. I was so excited for the opportunity to review our friend Jonathan Edward's (of Aftermath) new EP "She's Better Than Dreams". But, then I read another review of his music that started, "'She’s Better Than Dreams' confronts a nostalgic 'Hootie and the Blowfish' sentiment and fuses it with 'Coldplay’s' depth and dense soundstage all wrapped in 'Lifehouse’s' lyrical invention." Considering that this week my music playlist has included the Chipmunk's version of "Party Rock Anthem" and a Fischer Price toy that plays "Jack and Jill Went Up a Hill", I almost backed out. I have no musical comparisons that will be helpful... or accurate, come to think of it. But, then I remembered that I have spent hours and hours in a car with Daniel and Mike Passaro over the years, listening to so-boring-I'd-rather-poke-my-eye-out-with-a-fork analysis of various artists. And if that doesn't qualify me, I don't know what does. So, here it goes...

I love Jonathan's voice, and he is such a gifted song-writer... super talented guy. Jonathan is able to capture his emotions in song in a poetic, powerful way. I told Daniel the other day that in song-writing Jonathan can do with his emotions what Daniel does with theology... That was meant as a compliment to both :-)

Just briefly, I wanted to highlight a few thoughts on the musical component of each song... "All Those Things" has beautiful instrumentation; poetic lyrics in a smooth vocal delivery. "She's Got Me" has a fun loop and very catchy tune that compliments Jonathan's voice well. The first time we played it, Eden yelled "I want to listen to that one again!" Shout-out from a three-year-old. "Airplanes and Airwaves" is beautifully melodic, while maintaining a great use of drum and percussion. The beginning of "Never Too Far" is.so.cool. Go listen to it right now. Go. (Me waiting) Ok, back? I'm right, huh? You also don't want to miss the electric guitar in "Stay"... great drop-ins moving from acoustic verses into heavier textured musical bridges. (Maybe not the right word, but I learned in those long car rides that I need to use the word "texture" at some point to sound like I know what I'm talking about.)

These songs are written from the perspective of a guy who is in love with a girl who is not sure she is in love with him. Each song echoes different aspects of the emotions this guy is feeling - "All Those Things" - regret over things unsaid between them. "She's Got Me" - wishing she was into him the way he was into her. "Airplanes and Airwaves" - he would "ride on the airplanes and airwaves" to be with her. "Never Too Far" - not wanting to hold her back, but a commitment to love her regardless. "Stay" - will love her "right, even if right is wrong."

I love, love the deep honestly of these songs. In fact, I was just listening to a message by John Piper (I believe it was one from the Desiring God National Conference in 2004, "Sex and The Supremacy of Christ"), who pointed out that these intense feelings for others is something God gave us to model what His pure, jealous love is like for His bride, the Church. God did not love us when we decided to pursue Him, but pursued us with reckless love to win us back. Jonathan does an amazing job of expressing these intense emotions.

But, I did think it was important for me to mention that the longing and pain we feel from lack of commitment or abandonment are not an end in themselves, although I feel that this is where "She's Better Than Dreams" leaves us. The ultimate point of feelings of loss or uncertainty in relationships is not primarily to prompt us to win love's loss back... but to point us to the Ultimate picture of love lost and regained, through God sending Christ to reconcile us back to Him.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think that all Christian musicians need to write only Christian songs. In fact, there is a lot of Christian music that I think is just, well, bad, on multiple levels. I also know that a 5 song EP can't possibly tell the whole story (!!!) So, I say this, not at all to discourage y'all from getting Jonathan's CD... Rather, the opposite - I hope it encourages you to!!... These songs connect amazingly with anyone who has ever loved someone who didn't love them back. And they are just plain beautiful even if you are not one of these people :-) But, I hope my review is also an encouragement not to leave your hearts there, but to look to Christ, who gives us peace and hope in the midst of disappointment, pain and uncertainty.

You can buy "She's Better Than Dreams" HERE.

Why Theologians need Wives

2012-01-12T15:20:00.003-05:00

Daniel just started his new position as Assistant Worship Pastor at Providence. We already miss the college ministry (!!!) but are so excited about this new opportunity. One of the things that we have noticed already is how different some Sunday mornings will be. For the last 8 years, Daniel has been out the door every Sunday morning between 4:30am-5:30am... and is so, so busy until he gets home after 1:30. Now, with his new job, the Sundays when he leads (2-3 Sundays a month) will be like that. But, the Sundays he's not leading are pretty calm. We were able to go to a LIFE class together last Sunday, which we literally have not done since we've been married. Also, Daniel was able to help me get the girls ready last Sunday (even though he left for church about 6am to help out there, he came back home about 8:30 to help me). This is also something that literally has never happened on Sunday mornings. I was almost giddy :)

Anyway, this totally cracked me up... I was in our room getting ready while Daniel was getting the girls dressed for church. This is what I heard...

Daniel: "now girls, you are not going to dress up in nice dresses this morning. Do you know why? Because there are some little boys and girls who come to Providence who can't afford to buy nice clothes, and we don't want to make them feel bad. Also, it's an important reminder that God wants our hearts to be clean, and not just our outside to look good."

(Silence)

Daniel: "hey Danielle, can you please come help me? I have no idea what clothes to put them in."

And that is why theologians need wives :)

How David Beckham ruined our battery

2012-01-07T19:43:00.001-05:00

Driving home last night. Stoplight. Daniel glances down at design blog on phone.
Daniel: "Hey, check out these rad boots."
Hands me phone. Look at boots. Yes, very cool.

Read whole blog post about boots. Realize guy in boots is David Beckham.

Boots now infinitely cooler.

Daniel takes phone back. Pull in driveway. Daniel starts massive David Beckham research.

Start getting kids out. Bennett climbing over mounts of coats and groceries. Eden falling asleep in carseat. Mercy has taken shoes and socks off. Daniel still stalking Beckham. Me, ever gracious and kind, point out that he is being weird instead of getting kids inside. Interrupts Daniel's chain of thought, and we all get out without turning Highlander off. All walk inside with vehicle still running in driveway. (Actually easy to do - silent hybrid with remote start). Don't realize we left car on until try to start it next day.

And that is how David Beckham fried our car battery. The end.

Happy new year!

2012-01-02T18:06:00.001-05:00

Happy new year, from a bunch of silly little girls!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T08:13:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

Splatter painting

2011-12-22T17:50:00.001-05:00

Two weeks ago, we were at my friend, Nicole's, house for a play date, and I noticed a really cool "splatter" painting in her living room. Nicole had made it, and told me it was really easy to do. So I decided to give it a try!

So, off for supply shopping... I found 2 canvases on sale at michaels for about $4 each. Then Nicole told me I could get sample cans of paint at Lowes... They would mix any paint color for about $2.50 a can. (spent about $12 on paints).

Then Nicole and the girls came over to help create it. I got some great pictures from that morning... But, I'm so bummed that my phone broke and the pictures are gone now :( But basically, we each had a brush and splattered/drizzled one color at a time on the canvas. After each color, one of us rinsed the brushes while the other took the painting to the porch where we used a blow dryer to speed up the drying process. The paintings survived several bugs getting stuck in the splatters, Mercy throwing her plastic snack bowl onto the canvas of wet paint, and several preschooler wanting to help :)

Here is the final product that I gave to Daniel as a Christmas present this morning...

Very fun, inexpensive project!!

Downfall of the Gingerbread House

2011-12-19T15:43:00.001-05:00

Little Miss Mommy

2011-12-13T13:06:00.001-05:00

Bennett just cracks me up how she acts just like a little mommy. In addition to taking care of Mercy (and any other baby she can!), she also loves to do chores around the house...

Folded the laundry all by herself (Braving extreme conditions... Eden jumping around her)

Her reading of choice for bedtime - Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book (actually this is probably an area she way surpasses me in domesticity!)

Ok, a way she IS more like me... She laid out her workout clothes before she left for preschool so that she could be ready to workout with me when she got home :)

Tree's up!

2011-12-10T22:54:00.001-05:00

Thursday was a fun Christmas decorating day for us. We started the day with yummy monkey bread and sausage balls. (the girls had their faces painted the day before)

Yummy....

Then mercy helped by throwing everything on the ground...

So she got a little rest time with daddy :) actually, here we were trying to decide what to do with the tree... We got it for $20 at wal-mart. Enough said. I was trying to talk Daniel into taking it back and getting a real one.

Well, we decided to keep it (or at least decorate it... We might still take it back when we have a chance - busy weekend)

Mercy was so proud of the one she put on.

"yay!"

Merry Christmas!

Yogurt

2011-12-03T21:22:00.001-05:00

Who knew yogurt was finger food?!

And can be used as hair gel?

New park!

2011-11-21T21:33:00.001-05:00

A fun new park just opened about 2 miles from our house!

Gobble, Gobble

2011-11-21T21:28:00.001-05:00

Last week at preschool, Bennett made a "turkey" out of an apple. The beak was a candy corn, the wings were marshmallows, the eyes were raisins "glued" with icing. All edible except the toothpicks that held the wings and beak. So cute.

Bennett carried it into the car when I picked her up from preschool, and I found it like this shortly after we got home...

Note to self to take pictures before they have a chance to eat the arts and crafts.

Week of Thanksgiving

2011-11-21T21:19:00.001-05:00

...and the girls are in their swim suites playing in the sprinkler.

Preschool

2011-11-12T21:58:00.001-05:00

I need to figure out how to flip this picture around, but here is a sheet Bennett's preschool teachers sent home. Looks like we've got a hoarder on our hands.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Yard salin'

2011-11-12T13:20:00.001-05:00

This morning we stopped at a yard sale and found this jewel....

An Electronic Cash Register!

Bennett has been playing with it for about an hour... and I just heard Eden recite my VIC card number so that Bennett could punch it in :)

Odds and ends from October

2011-11-10T14:58:00.001-05:00

1. Now that it's not 500 degrees outside, we've started baking again.

2. Eden taking advantage of the hook on the stall door while taking care of business.

3. Third child. Not sure a) how third child got in highchair and b) how highchair and third child got from kitchen to the bedroom.

4. Hanging out with friends. We kept our buddy Conner some while his mommy recovered from pneumonia.

Bennett is so, so sweet with babies.

5. Fall retreat. Oh dear, dirtystache.

Eden loves tents!

Serious contemplation on how to get these things up.

Lots of little helpers

Dance party!!

And John leading morning stretches :)

Allison has cute pictures from Fall Retreat that I cant figure out how to steal off her blog :)

Fall festival

2011-11-10T14:16:00.001-05:00

Two weekends ago we took the girls to Fall Festival at Providence. (Bennett talks about this year-round).

This year we had Princess Kate, a ballerina and a lady bug.

Waiting in line to ride the ponies.

Princess Kate looks so regal :)

All smiles!

Bennett looks forward to this all year.

Mercy didn't get to ride the ponies, but she did get her share of germs from the ball pit.

And she ran into her buddy Nora, who was also a lady bug. (couldn't get a picture of both of them facing the same direction, of course)

Face painting time...

(butterfly, hard to see)

A legal tatoo. Eden has been waiting a long time for this (she has gotten in trouble for many illegal tatoos that she gives herself :)

Then the girls got to do the hamster wheel.

Leaving Fall Fest...

We continued the party at an NCSU volleyball game. No same in our game :)

Mercy

2011-11-10T13:52:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure what she had in mind here, but it can't be good.

And, whenever the house is quiet, I just assume that something like this is going on.

NC State Fair

2011-10-27T13:58:00.001-04:00

Last week we went to the State Fair and had a blast as always. The girls love all the animals...

Check out the huge pumpkin!

We had our little buddy, Conner, with us while his mommy was recovering from pneumonia.

This picture cracks me up... I think Daniel was about to sneeze.

Happy Fair Day :)

Planning weekend

2011-10-22T14:20:00.001-04:00

This weekend Daniel and I were able to get away for a planning/strategy time. Daniel's parents kept the girls while we worked through schedules, schooling, budget, family devotions, and even ideas for a book Daniel is working on about worship leading.

We also ate some yummy food... Like this butternut squash soup from dean and delucas.

Daniel's dad had hotel points for us to stay at the Ritz Carlton in uptown charlotte. It was. So. Nice. Yes, that is a TV screen in the bathroom mirror.

Oh, hello, fox news, I was just brushing my teeth.

The rest of the room wasn't too shabby either...

Our view

A nice work area.

Thankful for the sweet, productive time away.

Somersault!

2011-10-11T16:27:00.000-04:00

Bennett's birthday

2011-10-11T16:21:00.009-04:00

Well, here is my long overdue post from Bennett's birthday party a few weeks ago. My sweet and very talented friend Nicole took pictures for me... here they are!

Bennett with some of her best friends, Alanna and Mary Evelyn.

This picture totally cracks me up.

Eden's buddy, Margo (Mary Evelyn's sister). Dropping Eden off at Sunday School has become so much easier since Margo moved to town :-)

Ellie and Asher (Mercy's boyfriend)

Hudson!

Mercy was such punk!... Had her cupcake for about 5 seconds before she smashed the whole thing on her belly. I probably shouldn't have laughed, but it was hysterical!

Noah! We miss him so much... so good to catch up with Ryan, Angie, Noah and Eli at the party.

I love, love these pictures! Asher has the best laugh!

Josh and Davia... cool pict, Nicole!

How much fun is this?!

Messy Mercy :-)

Clearwater

2011-10-06T21:30:00.001-04:00

Today we had a blast in Clearwater. The weather is just perfect. We started the day early in the pool... The hotel we're staying at has a beautiful courtyard with 2 different pools and a hot tub. The girls loved hopping from one to the next. One even had a pretty waterfall!

... Which runs up to the hot tub.

Weeeee!

We had fun catching up with extended family that are in town for the wedding too.

Bennett, Eden and I went to pick Daniel and mercy up at the Tampa airport around lunchtime. They had been up since about 5am, so while they took 3 hour naps, I took B and E to Clearwater beach. The sand is so soft and beautiful!!

Bennett decided to feed the sea gulls some animal cookies. She ran off and left Eden to fend for herself :)

B was way proud of her juice box. It's the little things...

Silly Eden!

But you know their favorite thing there was the shower...

For dinner we hung out at chip and sharon's house... But for some reason I didn't get any pictures there. We're back at the hotel now like this....

... Waiting for the girls to fall asleep :)

Florida!!!

2011-10-06T08:54:00.001-04:00

8:30am and we're already at the pool.

So excited about Jake and Katie's wedding this weekend!

Magnolia tree

2011-10-01T10:12:00.001-04:00

Daniel led music for chapels at Southeastern this week. The girls and I went out there Thursday morning... Lasted through 2 1/2 songs before we got too loud and had to leave :) We ended up exploring and found this awesome tree to play on.

When Bennett saw it, she said, "this looks like a playground!"

Mercy mostly explored my purse... And tried to eat little red berries off the ground :)

Bennett turns 5!

2011-09-23T11:35:00.001-04:00

Can't believe Bennett turned 5 yesterday! We were able to go into her preschool this morning with cupcakes to celebrate.

Happy birthday, b!

Mercy's somersault

2011-09-22T12:50:00.002-04:00

Last week, Mercy watched Bennett do a somersault and then decided to try it herself... and she did it! This is a video of her second one. I love her face after she flips over - she's so excited and proud of herself. Cutie pie!

Morning with daddy

2011-09-15T15:40:00.001-04:00

This morning Daniel took the girls to the library and snapped this sweet shot of them. Not sure how happy mercy is about taking it, but cute anyway :)

Sweet college friends...

2011-09-14T19:51:00.001-04:00

One thing I love about Daniel working in the college ministry is being able to hang out with fun, amazing "kids". On Monday my friend allison spent most of the day with us - went out to chapel hill for mercy's doctor's appointment, ran a million little errands and then did a work-out video with me (my love language - ha ha!)

I was laughing so hard at her, though... When we got home, this is how she walked in...

The girls had totally trashed the car and she was so sweet to help clean it up :)

Then, last night we went over to providence for the dinner before discipleship group started. Andrew, who is also in my Turkish class, offered to help Eden get a pancake. This is what came back...

You better believe that Eden slurped up every bit of that syrup! I told Andrew that I would call him to come babysit that night once all the sugar hit her :)

Preschool

2011-09-07T13:27:00.001-04:00

Bennett's first day of preschool was today... Could never tell how excited she was, huh? :)

She is going to Christ Baptist, MWF mornings. She came home beaming this afternoon... I think she's gonna love it.

Parenting 101

2011-08-29T15:10:00.001-04:00

Great parenting moments from the last few days:

1. Eden playing outside during Hurricane Irene.

2. Mercy with a large Icee at Target.

3. Bennett taking it on herself to do my chores while I do Power90 in another room.

Eden loves straws

2011-08-25T12:29:00.001-04:00

Random videos

2011-08-20T08:30:00.002-04:00

I don't know how Bennett and Eden can do this! Mercy was doing it, but, of course, as soon as I grabbed the camera she stopped.

Bennett playing with Mercy

Just playing at the art museum park

Typical play time around the house... Bennett and Eden trying out new dance moves while Mercy pushes a stroller

Eden's cart wheel cracks me up :-)

Quirks of a one-year-old

2011-08-20T08:20:00.003-04:00

One of Mercy's favorite things to do is "stand" on her head and look up-side-down between her legs. Recently, she realized she could also wave she's doing it.

Here she is again on her head... and then tells us all about Daniel's phone receiving a text :-)

She also does this funny thing when she drinks out of a straw... she opens her mouth really, really big before she clamps down on it. I've tried to get video of it a few times, but of course she's way more interested in the camera. This is the best I've got...

Visit with old friends

2011-08-17T21:30:00.001-04:00

One of my very best friends from my King days, Caroline, was in town last week with her hubby James (who also went to King) and their sweet daughter Madison. We were able to spend several evenings with them. It was awesome to catch up and watch our little girls become quick buddies. Here we are at UNC.

Here we are at our house...

... With a rather unsuccessful photo opp.

Bennett and Madison were so sweet together... We hope it won't be a whole year before we see them again!!

Guess who we got to meet today!!

2011-08-17T21:12:00.001-04:00

Baby Miles!!!

(or Kilometer Renstrom as Daniel likes to call him)

We love our precious little nephew!!

First child, third child

2011-08-14T22:37:00.001-04:00

When Bennett did this a few years ago, I immediately called the Poison Control hotline.

When Mercy did this last week, I immediately took a picture and uploaded it to Facebook.

Outdoors in August

2011-08-11T20:55:00.001-04:00

Last weekend, the guy who plays electric for Daniel's band, Pat, got married. It was a beautiful wedding and we're so excited for Pat and Jessica.

We were laughing so hard at Daniel, though. It was an out door ceremony and Daniel had sweat dripping down his face. He asked if I had a napkin or something in my purse. No, I didn't, but I did have this...

One of Mercy's dirty bibs (which actually was better than the diaper I was going to give him.)

You'll have to ask Ben if it smelled bad. It was pretty gross looking, though.

Classy :)

Why my house is never clean...

2011-08-05T07:28:00.001-04:00

1. Mercy's favorite hobby is throwing her food. In this case, Cole slaw, which ended up on her head.

2. Mercy's favorite toy is anything that can be dumped out from the pantry.

3. Mercy's favorite thing to do with book is demolish them. Bye-bye Harry potter.

4. Honorable mention to Eden, who thinks that anything in liquid form is sunblock.

Bed head!

2011-08-04T14:42:00.001-04:00

After my last post, is it any surprise that this is what Eden's hair looks like when she wakes up?

Looks comfy!

2011-08-04T07:32:00.001-04:00

Since Eden's bed is right on the floor, we often find her like this....

Sometimes we find her totally off the bed, sleeping on the floor. But this is my person favorite - from Daniel's parent's house....

Such a silly girl :)

Mercy's new thing

2011-07-29T14:02:00.001-04:00

Welcome, Baby Miles!

2011-07-28T21:00:00.002-04:00

Yesterday afternoon, Adam and Nat had a precious little boy, Miles Ward Renstrom, 6 lbs., 12 oz.

Can't wait to meet our new little nephew! Congrats, Adam, Nat, Greta and Will!

Mercy and Jack

2011-07-24T22:28:00.002-04:00

We got to hang out with family in Charlotte this past weekend while Daniel was recording in Nashville. One of the highlights of the time was hanging out with baby Jack... we hadn't seen him since he was a week old. He's 8 weeks now and cute as can be! Mercy noticed him for the first time at the pool :-)

NC Museum of Natural Science

2011-07-19T22:31:00.001-04:00

My parents came up Sunday for Daniel's ordination and were able to stay over until Monday afternoon. We had a great time with them going to the Museum of Natural Science downtown. It was our first time going - and loved it! (especially Bennett, who has a strange fascination with critters that give most people the heeby-geebies)

Bennett unphased by huge rattlesnake

Mercy is in this adorable stage where she calls all animals "duck! Duck!"... Most notably the goldfish at the public library, but here, giant cockroaches.

Then we went to our favorite- Lilly's pizza!!

Come back soon, nana and grand daddy!

Typical...

2011-07-15T20:56:00.002-04:00

Bennett: Always the helper
Mercy: Starting to walk!
Eden: In her own world, just plain hilarious. (If you turn the volume up, you can hear that she's singing "Mary had a Little Lamb", standing in the middle of the Art Museum, dancing with her sunglasses)

View from Eden's car seat

2011-07-14T22:28:00.001-04:00

Hi, Eden here. So the other day Mommy let me play with her phone in the car so I wouldn't fall asleep. Here's the play-by-play...

Mommy leaning back to find the sippy cup Mercy threw on the floor. This happens a lot. Don't worry, we were still in the drive way.

Ok, driving now.

Oh look, a mini van!... And Mercy's recovered sippy cup.

And Mercy cheesing for the camera (we had gotten out by now and Mercy and I switched seats when we got back in. We do this a lot too.)

Alright, back home again!

First steps!

2011-07-03T21:33:00.002-04:00

Guess who finally decided to take her first steps at 16 months?!

Yesterday, Natalie and I were going through a bag of toys that I'm giving away, to see if they wanted anything. Of course, Mercy, who was playing near us, wanted everything I pulled out. She was standing beside the couch, saw this teddy bear, and took a tiny step toward me to get the bear. Here she is a few minutes later (after I found my camera) hugging the bear... she's actually trying to pat its back, like I do to her when I hold her like that - precious!!

I've seen her take one or two more tiny steps like her first since then. She'll be all over the place soon, I'm sure!

Sitting room make-over

2011-07-03T14:54:00.001-04:00

Daniel's parents and Adam, Nat, Greta and Will are up for the weekend to help with some house projects. We put Nat to work on our sitting room. Look what she did!!

Nat, Bennett, Greta and I spent several hours shopping yesterday and found some great deals. The big mirror for $40 at Homegoods...

And these "confederate" mirrors for $4.99...

... And $8.99 at Goodwill!

Scored the green pillow for $2.98 at pier 1.

We love, love it! She's working on a great picture collage for our other wall now... While I'm blogging :)

Photography by Eden Hope

2011-06-29T15:26:00.001-04:00

Seriously, Mercy?

2011-06-29T15:20:00.001-04:00

And 15 minutes later...

Stuck

2011-06-28T14:56:00.001-04:00

Don't you hate it when your older sister sticks you in a box then leaves?

Eden's birthday

2011-06-23T21:13:00.005-04:00

Monday we celebrated Eden's third birthday. As soon as she woke up, she came out to this little baby doll swing that Bennett had picked out for her.

Then that night, we went to Eden's favorite - LIlly's pizza! YUM!! (Unfortunately, one of the girls deleted several pictures off my phone from our night out :-( But here are the ones I have....)

Then we went to this really cool park that we'd never been to before.

Daniel and I were cracking up at Eden... always the little explorer and collector, she carried this big branch all the way over to the benches where we were going to have cupcakes. Never sure when you might need that around ;-)

Happy birthday to our precious, exploding-with-personality, little Eden Hope!!

Lake Lynn petting zoo

2011-06-23T21:10:00.001-04:00

Earlier this week, we took a walk at Lake Lynn with some friends. There are lots of interesting animals there (including snapping turtles that can easily be confused for medium-sized dinosaurs), but this was a first....

It came up so close we could almost pet it!

Eden, meet mud puddle

2011-06-23T21:04:00.001-04:00

Guess who turned 3 today!

2011-06-20T19:50:00.001-04:00

Happy birthday, precious Eden!

Clips from the last 2 weeks

2011-06-17T20:07:00.002-04:00

Here are several video clips I took over the last 2 weeks of traveling.

Bennett and Eden meeting Jack. Deirdre and I decided that Deirdre wouldn't need to do a thing if Bennett was around to babysit :-)

Car ride down to Gulf Shores (before we realized the potential pitfalls of one-year-old with lollipop)

Greta and Eden's birthday party at the beach... trying to get a picture of the 4 pretty princesses.

Happy birthday, Eden and Greta!

Love this video of Mercy with Mama Ward.

I think Mercy wants to get out there with them and dance. Well, maybe once she starts walking :-)

This video cracks me up! Bennett loves taking pictures and video with my phone. Her commentaries are awesome. Here we are finishing up our shopping trip to the outlet stores. The video ends abruptly when Eden runs up and asks if she can ride the carousel.

So close

2011-06-16T15:25:00.002-04:00

Mercy is 15 months now and so close to walking.

She also likes "dancing" and clearing everything off of tables :-)

She had her 15 month well check yesterday... weighing in at 24 pounds, and her weight, height and head circumference are all right under the 75%. Thankful for another healthy little girl!

Bennett singing like a true Baptist

2011-06-16T15:16:00.001-04:00

The first time I heard Bennett sing like this, I about drove off the road laughing at her.

Bennett's eyes

2011-06-16T14:39:00.003-04:00

This morning, Bennett had an appointment with a pediatric opthamologist with Duke Eye Care.

Some of you might remember that when Bennett was almost 2, we discovered her really cool party trick, "crazy eyes"... where she could make her left eye shoot up while her right stayed straight. She would do it to be funny or to try to distract us from disciplining her when she got in trouble :-)

Well, her pediatrician suggested we take her then to an opthamologist just to make sure her eyes were normal... and as far as the specialists could tell, they were. Although, they wanted us to have a follow-up visit in 6-months, which, in the business of life, I just didn't do.

Recently, though, we've noticed that Bennett's eyes don't always appear straight. So, I took her back today for another visit. Turns out, she has "Brown syndrome" in her right eye. The movement of the eye is controlled by certain muscles. Brown syndrome is a rare birth defect that prevents the muscle in her eye from looking upward... like it gets "stuck". Thankfully, she has a mild form of it, so surgery will not be needed. The bummer is that surgery is the only treatment for it, so she will always have to compensate (by tilting her head) to see things overhead that other people would have no problem seeing... like, if she plays volleyball, she'll have to work harder at titling her head to see the ball in the air than others will.

It surprised me that the problem was in her right eye... I always assumed it was the left. But, for instance, in the above picture of "crazy eyes" she is actually looking up - where her left eye is looking. Her right eye is "stuck" straight.

We're thankful that it probably won't get worse. It's usually as bad as it's going to be at this point (also no possibility of it getting better). They probably just weren't able to catch it when we took her in when she was 2 because it's really hard to get a child that young to look in certain positions that they would need to diagnosis Brown syndrome.

We'll go back every year to make sure nothing has changed, and, in the meantime, need to make sure she isn't having to tilt her head to see straight ahead. Thankful that we know what's going on now, and thankful for our healthy, precious Bennett Grace.

The lollipop incident

2011-06-12T22:06:00.001-04:00

Feeding Anna

2011-06-11T00:56:00.003-04:00

Look who's feeding Anna now...

Happy birthdays, Eden and greta!

2011-06-10T23:38:00.001-04:00

For Greta's and Eden's birthdays, Nat planned a fabulous princess party. The girls got to dress up in princess dresses and then got their hair, make-up and nails done before the party.

Aunt Pam got wild-child duty :)

Painting nails!

Pretty girls!

All ready...

Um, yes, mercy is chewing on a bottle of nail polish.

Princess pose gone wrong.

Dinner before the party

Bennett wanted to take a picture of us :)

A little pre-party tv.

Getting ready to go downstairs for the b'day festivities.

Nat had a cute craft for them.

Cup cake time!

Post-cup cake face.

Present time! Grammy gave E nesting dolls... She loves playing with a set they have at their house and was so excited about getting her own.

Love her sweet expression.

All the knights and princesses.

Happy birthday, girls!

Gulf shores

2011-06-10T22:43:00.001-04:00

We were able to spend this past week down in Gulf Shores with the Ward side of the family (Daniel's mom's side of the fam). It was a long, 13 hour trip, but definitely worth every minute of the drive!

On the way down, we spent the night near Auburn University... Purely convenience of location (roll tide!) but the next morning (after an hour or so in the hotel pool to get the wiggles out) we went over to look at the campus.

And we ate lunch at a cute little drug store/sandwich shop across from Toomer's Corner.

Nat and I went through a temporary rebellious streak.

Back in the car, where lollipops became our BFF.

I actually didn't take that many pictures at the beach... Waiting for other family members to upload so I can steal from them :) But here are a few (minus Eden and greta's birthday night, which I'll post later)

Part of the gang in one of the living rooms.

Love this picture of Mercy with Mama Ward.

One afternoon we went shopping at the outlets. Bennett wanted to take a picture of my new headband.

Picture night on the beach!

We asked the girls to smile for the camera. Love it!

Totally got these dance outfits at old navy on sale for $2.50 :)

Goofing off while taking the group shot (which I need to get from someone else)

The great-grands (we missed Brady and Grant though!)

Jake, the photographer.

Edes with Aunt Leebs.

Uh, not the pose i had in mind, Bennett.

This is the room B and E slept in. Eden tends to roll off her bed so we pulled the mattress off the other set of bunks unto the floor. Very comfy.

Daniel and I celebrated our 9th anniversary there.

And back in the car again.

More to come!

Uhhh....

2011-06-10T21:47:00.001-04:00

... So giving the girls lollipops in the car might not have been the greatest idea.

"Love, Love, Love"

2011-05-30T23:04:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was pretty crazy at the Renstrom house... Daniel, along with some extremely talented friends of ours, are making a music video for "Love, Love, Love"

Here is a little video I shot of its making... this was before we added about 12 kids to the 200 balloons in our living room :-)

Jack!

2011-05-27T20:20:00.006-04:00

8 pounds, 13 oz!

I'm such a proud aunt :-)

It was so special to be in the delivery room when he was born... except that I was pretty jealous that Deirdre pushed him out in just a few pushes - mine were never that quick and uneventful :-)

Marlene, R.N. (AKA Nana), explaining something she learned in nursing school.

Welcome Baby Jack! We love you!!

New nephew!

2011-05-26T21:37:00.002-04:00

Jack Andrew Mumpower! 8 lbs, 13 oz., 21 inches. 8:48pm. Everyone is doing well!

Vancouver

2011-05-22T18:07:00.000-04:00

Great time with some sweet friends :-)

The things they say...

2011-05-14T21:13:00.004-04:00

Brief moment of anxiety for me in the art museum, when Bennett walked up to this statue and said (very loudly!): It's "missing its...its...its arms!"

Never been so glad to hear the word "ARMS!" before :-)

Meanwhile, Eden looked at the bronze sculpture of Rodin's "Thinker" and said that he was thinking about "art"... Bennett disagreed and said that he was thinking about Jesus. Very deep, girls.

"Q" for "Quarter"

2011-05-14T20:58:00.003-04:00

During our little school time, we were reviewing the sound that a "Q" makes... like the first sound in "quarter." Bennett looked at the quarter and asked who the man was on it. So, we had a little chat about George Washington.

I then remembered that George's Washington's potrait by Rembrant Peale is at the NC Museum of Art. So, we did a little impromptu field trip. I gave them each a quarter...

... took them to the portraits section of the museum and had them find his picture. There he is!

After we found George Washington, the girls asked to see their favorite... the dog and the goose picture. (Eden still displaying her quarter.)

"BENNETT"

2011-05-08T21:35:00.002-04:00

Bennett wrote her name for the first time last week! I've been doing "school time" most mornings with Bennett and Eden, and have seen them really excel in their work. Proud of them :-)

Talent

2011-05-04T22:09:00.002-04:00

The backstory of this video is that Eden saw a lady bug on the ceiling that she really wanted to get a look at up-close. But (mean) Mommy told her she had to stay in her seat until after lunch. Well, leave it to Eden to find a loop-hole around that.

Early Mother's Day

2011-05-04T22:03:00.002-04:00

Dear Mom,

I know that all my other little friends are going to do cute little hand prints on cards and pottery and stuff like that for their moms for Mother's Day. BUT, I thought it would be so much more special if I just did it on my forehead.

-Love, Mercy

P.S. Really, who wants handprints when you can do face painting?

Uh, Mercy...

2011-05-04T22:01:00.000-04:00

... do you need a tissue?

Turtle time

2011-05-04T21:58:00.002-04:00

Caught Bennett and Eden trying to both fit inside this turtle. So funny! They were getting out by the time I could video it, but here's a little of the action :-)

It's up!!

2011-05-02T22:20:00.002-04:00

The three songs from Daniel's new kids CD "Jesus wants my heart" are up on iTunes today! Check it out!!

Check it out!

2011-04-29T21:47:00.003-04:00

Three songs from Daniel's new Kid's CD will be out next week... very excited!!! Check out the sampler of the songs below. And head over to his blog (www.danielrenstrom.com) to find out more about the album.

Jesus Wants My Heart Sampler by danielrenstrom

Long day...

2011-04-28T16:18:00.001-04:00

This week...

2011-04-28T15:36:00.002-04:00

...Bennett did the monkey bars by herself for the first time.

... Eden discovered the Easter clearance at Target.

(No we didn't get the stuffed animals, much to their disappointment.)

...And we discovered Mercy's aspiration to become a professional musician.

Happy (belated) Easter!

2011-04-26T13:57:00.002-04:00

As we were rushing out the door for church yesterday morning, the thought popped into my head that I was going to be really disappointed if I didn't get some pictures of the girls on Easter morning. Well, the grass was all wet, so the (dirty) porch was the next best option. Bummed that the clarity of the pictures isn't great either, but here they are....

Eden singing, as always.

Achoo! Bless you, Eden!

Bennett snapping her fingers so Mercy will look up.

I decided that I didn't want "Olivia", Eden's doll, to be in all the pictures so I took her away. That went over well.

Here I told Eden that she needed to stop crying about Olivia. Trying, trying.

Well, happy Easter anyway!

Big Helpers

2011-04-26T13:51:00.002-04:00

If you look up the expression, "One step forward, one step back", you might find this video as an example.

So, Mercy isn't a fan of the leaf blower

2011-04-26T13:48:00.001-04:00

New foods

2011-04-25T22:02:00.002-04:00

Mercy's first ice cream cone

Step back, DVD player...you have nothing on this apple in the entertainment department.

Close enough

2011-04-25T21:13:00.003-04:00

Well, Bennett can't quite write her own name (very close, though!), but today she wrote Eden's :-)

Bennett's dance class

2011-04-25T20:56:00.006-04:00

This spring, Bennett has been able to go to a dance class on Thursday mornings... which she has LOVED. Last week was her last week and the parents were able to come in and watch. I was so proud of her! She really is so coordinated, graceful and focused for her age.

(Just a warning, this post is very long... the highlights: "Bennett dance 5" is hilarious. I cried watching her do the twirls in "Bennett dance 7" and "Bennett dance 9" is an actual little dance)

Bennett really impressed me with this exercise... watch how well she stays with the teacher on all the moves (starts about 25 seconds in)

Currently, Bennett (and Eden, for that fact) don't go anywhere unless they walk it "heel, toe. heel, toe."

Well, you can't fault the girls in her class for lack of passion on this move. Grace? probably. But not passion.

This is where you can really tell it's a class of 3 and 4 year olds :-)

OK, I confess... I was totally "that mom" crying watching her baby do these twirls.

An actual little dance they worked on over the last few weeks!

Graceful dancers...

...meets the football offensive line. (I later had a conversation with Bennett about how if we accidentally knock someone over, we always stop what we're doing to apologize and help them up.)

Meanwhile, Eden sat glued and soaked in everything they were doing... she talks about wanting to take dance class all the time. Hopefully we'll be able to put her in a class soon.

Mercy, on the other hand, was a bit more adventure-seeking during the class.

And she's in a phase where she thinks everything is a phone... in this case, her boot.

So proud of our little dancer!

Culinary Awesomeness

2011-04-23T21:26:00.002-04:00

This one is entitled "The Problem with Multitasking"

(Trying to get lunch on the table and forgot to put water in the instant mac 'n cheese. Yes, I'll own it, I burned instant mac 'n cheese.)

This one is entitled "God Looks at the Heart"

(It tasted amazing, but looked like a preschool art project)

Eden the robot

2011-04-16T15:06:00.002-04:00

(As a side note, I've figured out that if I push the couch in our living room forward a little, I have enough room to do a workout video while having a complete view of the side yard out this window. The girls love playing out there in the kiddie pool, and I leave the porch door open so we can hear each other. Great little set up!)

Hey Mercy, what'cha doing?

2011-04-13T23:14:00.000-04:00

A Day Captured by Bennett

2011-04-12T22:02:00.007-04:00

Bennett loves taking pictures. LOVES. She's constantly asking if she can use my camera.... and occasionally I let her. I was looking through the memory card and discovered dozens and dozens of her photos. They totally cracked me up! Here are a few:
Lots of self-portraits:

(I love how I am urgently running to something here while Bennett is totally in her own world)

...lots of her feet too.

Pictures of the TV must be pretty exciting too.
Hi, Steve Green.

Oh, must have been working out with Power90.

Some were just plain impressive for artistic value:

Yeah, thanks for the reminder about Eden's art work on our kitchen wall.

Scenes from the house:
Hello Elmo.

Hello pasta left stuck to the table after dinner.

Hello dishwasher. Clean or dirty?

Hello narsassism.

Hello wall letters over Mercy's crib.

And hello neighbor's house

And shots of the family

Uh, nice headstand, Eden. My guess is that the picture is blurry because Bennett is trying a headstand too.

Peak-a-boo, Mercy!

Ariel view from the top bunk.

Eden is very excited about Mercy waking up from her nap.

Silly girls!

Airport

2011-04-11T22:26:00.003-04:00

What is this?

Can I go too?!

Weeeee!!!

2011-04-09T16:15:00.001-04:00

Aegean Sea

2011-04-04T17:06:00.002-04:00

Just got back last night from my trip to Central Asia - had a blast! One day I got to go to a little fishing village on the Aegean Sea... one of the prettiest places I've ever been to.

Made it!

2011-03-31T04:48:00.001-04:00

Left my house at 11AM Tuesday morning and finally arrived at my friends' house in Central Asia at 10:30 last night (Wednesday). Great trip and have seen so many prayers answered. Excited about seeing their city today. Thanks for continued prayers!

Little Ms. Clean Freak

2011-03-28T20:33:00.002-04:00

P.S. When Daniel was Bennett's age, he referred to burritos as "that messy thing." I think Bennett got his cleanliness gene.