The Engbers Blog

The Eiffel Tower, according to Liv...

Clara is our silly, make us laugh-out-loud, kind of child. She had a thing going for awhile about hiding in closets.  I would come into a room and see a little eye peeking out at me.  Sometimes Olivia would be the instigator, and other times Clara just wandered on in herself.  Peek!  I see you, mom.   One afternoon she grabbed her lunch tray, sippy, and headed for the storage closet downstairs.  She parked herself on a pile of stuff and finished off her lunch right there. Whenever Olivia cons her into going on (pretend) trips, Clara makes sure to pack enough of her belongings.  At least she learned something from me.  You can never take too many bags!

Here is a little update on what has been happening at our household lately: Jon is in the final stretch of residency now and counting down the months, and maybe even weeks until he will finally complete the 'schooling' part of his life.  He will be done the end of June right before we head to Georgia for Bryant's wedding.  He will probably start in RV the beginning of July.  Jon has been working about 1 weekend a month in RV already, so that should make the transition a little easier.  He is definitely ready! Olivia is a busy preschooler.  She loves learning and playing with friends at school.  She also likes to have friends over to play at her house.  We have a new Kindle Fire at our house that Olivia likes to use during Clara's nap time, aka Olivia's 'quiet time'.  Her favorite thing to do on it is watch old episodes of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.  She loves it (just like her dad at that age!)  She also is pretty good at navi...

I had a spur of the moment desire to get some outdoor pictures of the girls yesterday.  It was nice enough to be outside in light jackets and hats, so we quickly went out for a mini photo shoot.   Livi is coming around to the idea of being my photography assistant/model.  She did a great job smiling and convincing Clara to stand still.  She always likes to take some pictures herself once I have called it quits.  Oh, and she also gets a special treat for being a good helper.  Which we all know is the real reason she was behaving.  I tried everything to get Clara to give me some big 'cheesy' smiles, but she just looked at me like I was crazy.  She was too busy exploring the snow and pine cones.  I was taking close-ups this time (thank-goodness!), because I bet Clara had two or more pine cones in her hands in almost all of these pictures. Two girls looking at the camera with semi-smiles (as mom gives herself bun...

One of my favorite things during the day is watching Olivia and Clara play together.  I love the times when I come into a room and find them reading together, sharing toys, or making the largest mess possible.  They are true sisters, hugging each other one minute and pulling hair the next.  For the most part, though, they play nicely together.  Clara loves her sister and attempts to do about anything Olivia does, good or bad!  She is always following along with Olivia's grand ideas, especially if it involves Olivia giving Clara a specific task, such as, "here Clara, you load all the books in the laundry basket, while I line up the animals for the parade!" Olivia loves having her sister as a partner for exploring, pretending, playing games, and eating snacks with.  She even tolerates Clara's tendency to destroy towers, puzzles, or pyramids of stuffed animals.    Working on some button art together. Going on an indoor 'sled ride' from daddy...