Dinner Conversation

Just a crazy little video of my conversation with Gracie and Rocky last night at the dinner table. I love the facial expressions and hand gestures! I'll have to try to get another video with Gracie talking more. She really loves to ramble, but my camera memory card filled before I could catch all of it!

New Hampshire 2009

After a long absence from blogging, we're back! In July, we went to New Hampshire for vacation. We've gone for the past three years, but this year, since the kids are bigger, we were a bit more adventurous. Above is Gracie at the restaurant we stopped at on the way up. Can you tell she's excited?? Below is a picture from of our excursions--a trip to the Ben & Jerry's factory in Waterbury, VT. The ice cream sample was definitely a hit with the kids! (and with us, too :)
This is the view from the cottage we stayed at. It's great; so relaxing! It's a little hard to see in the picture, but they have a statue of a boy fishing sitting at the end of the dock. Every morning, Gracie and Rocky would want to check to see if he was still there! I think they thought he was real!
We also went to York, ME. Below is Nubble Light. We have lighthouses and beaches on Cape Cod, too, of course, but it was still beautiful!

Beach at York, ME

This was taken in downtown Portsmouth, NH. We walked around here with the kids.
This is at the table in the cottage. I think the kids had had enough of picture-taking! If you look at the background, you can see the pond through the window.

Rocky and Daddy--so sweet!

Gracie and Mommy

This was from our walk in downtown Concord, NH. Rocky isn't too sure that he likes that turtle!

I love this picture of Lou and Rocky!

Gracie and Rocky in front of the cottage

We praise the Lord for such a relaxing time away together! Now that we're back on the Cape, the summer heat has really finally begun. We've been taking the kids to the beach more. They like the water, but Gracie, my little clean-freak, doesn't like getting sandy on the beach! Hopefully, she'll get used to it soon! I think the heat is here to stay for a while, although we do have hurricane warnings for Sunday...

Play Time Photos

I love Rocky's face in this picture...

Gracie and Rocky love to play in the laundry basket!

My current favorite picture of Gracie

I can't believe summer is here, although we haven't had too many warm days yet. We did get to have a picnic on the beach on Monday; that was a lot of fun! It was too cold for the kids to go in the ocean, but they had a fun time digging in the sand. I quickly realized that we had to teach them not to throw the sand and not to eat it (Rocky attempted to taste it...). The Cape is really such a beautiful area; I never get tired of driving around looking at all the scenery. I'm glad that Gracie and Rocky are getting old enough to enjoy more of it. I'll have to remember to bring my camera on our next picnic...

Pink Sunglasses

Gracie loves her pink sunglasses! She wears them inside and outside; she is definitely girly! Here are some pics of her wearing them around the house.

Gracie and Daddy sporting their shades!

Rocky doesn't like anything on his face, so no sunglasses for him (in case any of you were thinking we left him out. :)

A few quick pictures before church...we're all enjoying the warmer weather!

So cute...I love the messy hair!

Spring has sprung!

After a two-month absence from blogging, here's a bit of what's been going on in the Faustino household! Gracie and Rocky are growing quickly, and Rocky has hit the "getting-into-everything" stage! He definitely keeps me busy. Gracie continues to amaze us with her conversational skills and her memory! Nothing seems to escape her notice. She really loves her books and lately, she's into "Angelina Ballerina." (We get some of the videos from the library). My mom made her a little pink ballet skirt from some scrap fabric, and Gracie loves to twirl around in it. I have to get a picture of that. In these pictures (above and below), Gracie and Rocky are watching for Lou to come home from work. It's finally warming up here (in the 50s), so we've started to open some windows and play outside more.

Gracie trying to give Rocky a hug (or a headlock!)

It's amazing how difficult it is to get them both in a picture and looking at me...now if only we could get smiles, too! =)

This picture makes me laugh. I don't know what prompted Gracie to strike this pose, but it was so funny, I had to take a picture! (Note the frog slippers; Gracie loves these!--thanks, Nana!)

Last Monday and Tuesday, Lou and I had a little getaway to Martha's Vineyard, an island off of Cape Cod. It was our first time away without the kids, and although we missed them, it was so nice to sleep in the morning (although sleeping in for us is about 8:30 a.m.). We stayed in a nice little bed & breakfast and got a great rate since it's still off-season. (On-season on Cape Cod is Memorial Day through Labor Day).

The front porch of the b&b

Some pictures from Easter Sunday...Lou preached a convicting sermon on how the resurrection changed Paul the apostle and on how it should change us as well (I actually just heard it for the first time the other day since I had nursery duty on Easter morning). Hopefully, we'll be able to get his sermons online soon at the church website. We've been working on it, but it's slow going. We really need an IT guy! =) I love this picture of Rocky (below); he was in the middle of a laugh!

Gracie in her dress

Playtime outside in our front yard

Gracie in Concert

Gracie has been learning a lot of songs lately. Here she is singing "The Church's One Foundation." In case you can't make out all the lyrics....

"The church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord
She is His new creation by water and the Word
From Heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride
With His own blood He bought her (Gracie skipped this line)
And for her life He died."

Below, Gracie sings "Jesus Loves Me." I knew she knew the first two verses, but I didn't realize that she had learned the third verse until we did this video. Also, she did finish the song, but my camera battery ran out, so we apologize for the abrupt ending. =)

"Jesus loves me, this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong,
They are weak but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me,
Yes, Jesus loves me,
The Bible tells me so.

Jesus loves me, He who died
Heaven's gate to open wide
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.

Jesus loves me, He will stay
Close beside me all the way
He's prepared a place for me
And someday His face I'll see."

Where does the time go???

Rocky and Gracie are growing so fast!! Rocky is taking his first few cautious steps, and Gracie's vocabulary is multiplying daily! She continues to amaze us with the words and sentences she comes out with. Lately, Lou has been teaching her to sing, "The Church's One Foundation," and believe it or not, she knows it! It's funny to hear her try to sing "foundation" and "creation." I'll have to try to get a video. Rocky is talking, too, with a word here or there (see video below). These are just some "everyday" pictures from hanging out at the house.

Rocky likes to be up high. Gracie used to like it, too, but now she's getting scared!

Gracie and Rocky with their winter scarves that Grandma made for them! I love this picture of Gracie even though she has her eyes shut. She's so dramatic sometimes. Both she and Rocky love the snow. It actually snowed yesterday, and for a while, they just stood on the couch and watched it snow! They like to watch Lou shovel, too, because he'll throw snowballs at the window. They love that!

My current favorite picture of Rocky!

Gracie has been learning the b-i-b-l-e song, and as you can see below, Rocky has been learning it, too! He surprised us one day by finishing the song!