Not bad for not much money

I took the kids to get their 1-year-old and 3-year-old pictures taken. It wasn't extrememly successful (Joel cried most of the session), but since I didn't want to go back and do it again, we made do and ordered some anyway. (the bottom right was the winner)

Joel pics

Joel hates the photography studio. He hated it back in October, too. They never did capture a true Joel-boy smile. The only reason we have any pleasant looks at all is because the photographer had a sneezing attack, which made Joel stop screaming. He thought it was funny. Once her real sneezes were done, she continued to fake sneeze until she got a handful of non-crying shots.

Kari pics

Kari did so well getting her picture taken. Best time yet for her!

(The photo day was just one day before Kari cut off her bangs. I was so glad I'd already taken them in!)

The Joel Scoot

For those of you who haven't seen it first-hand, this is Joel's method of choice for getting around--no crawling, no walking--just the scoot. He's pretty quick at it now, but he needs to walk by 15 months, so the doctor says. He hates being on his tummy--rolls over every time, so not much chance of him crawling. He walks with our help but is just not interested in doing it on his own yet. He'll get there, on his own time, I suppose.

(This is my first blog video attempt--it works!)

Our little ragamuffin

Breaking in Daddy's new boots


Kari added to her new look when she closed the toy box lid on her face at G&G last night. She is now sporting super short bangs, a nice long scratch, and a little bruise on her cheek. She's quite a sight.

3-year-old + scissors = very short bangs

Yes, Kari cut her own bangs, and we couldn't keep from laughing when we saw what she had done. She looked so funny! They're very short in some spots. The nice thing about hair is that it grows.

Daddy's Home!

Yeah! Greg came home this afternoon, after being in Kentucky on a business trip all week, and we are VERY happy to have him back. You wouldn't think so by looking at Joel's expression, but really, he's happy, too.

Play time

Matthew Franklin came over to play today, and he and Kari had a great time. They got along quite well and had a lot of fun. They played out in the sunshine in our backyard for about an hour this morning-sliding, swinging, and running in circles. I wish I could have gotten some pictures of them outside. Oh well! Looking forward to your next visit, Matthew.

Embarrassing Grocery Moment

This little stinker (photo from a better day) actually licked the glass of the deli counter at Winco today. Anyone else have embarrassing store moments with misbehaving children?

Joel's 1st Birthday

Yesterday Joel turned 1 year old. Kind of hard to believe it's already been a year. We had a party at our house with a bunch of family--14 adults and 6 kids in our little home. It was kind of crazy but a lot of fun. We love our Joel-boy!

Birthday boy and Daddy

He was hesitant until I put a piece of cake into his mouth, then he was into it.

Sharing his cake with Grandpa

Cake's all gone. We are not pleased.

It was utter chaos opening the presents. I think everyone BUT Joel opened his presents. :)

He was perfectly content to play with (and try to eat) the wrapping paper.

The quietest time of the party--everyone eating spaghetti and meatballs--kids at the table, adults in the living room.

Sittin' and spinnin' with Grandma.

All the pictures we took of Joel's birthday are in our web albulm, so if you want to see more click here. (You should check it out just to see Maggie's spaghetti face.)

Last day of snow?

Today may have been the end of the snow days. (kind of hoping it is--I want to get out)
When Greg got home from work, he and Kari had some fun outside.

Even Better Snow Day!

More snow! Yeah! Our driveway made a great bunny slope.

(you can double-click on the photos to make them bigger and easier to see)

Cold Winter Days

We are very much enjoying our wood stove and the nice, cozy heat it puts out, but we've also had our gas heat coming on more frequently. It's been so cold! Today I put Kari's lunch on her little table, so she could sit and watch Mister Rogers like she usually does. I went into the kitchen to get Joel's lunch ready, and when I came out, I saw her like this. I asked, "Kari, what are you doing?" She looked at me, and said, "I'm having a picnic on the vent," and went right back to watching her show. I thought it was funny.

Little Drummer Boy and Little Busy Girl

I started thinking, as I was getting ready to post these photos, that maybe people get tired of seeing pictures of us and our kids doing everyday things, but then I realized that if people don't want to see them, they don't have to look! We're not forcing anyone to look at our blog. People comes of their own free will, for their viewing pleasure. So that said, here are some more photos of our kids doing what they do.

Joel loves the musical instrument bucket. He's actually pretty good with the egg shakers. If I knew how to post videos I'd do it. He's started "dancing" to music.

I believe the box the drum came in said not for children under 3, but he loves drumming...

If you're wondering what Kari is doing in the cupboard, she's driving. I had to ask on that one.

Concentrating really hard on the Leap Pad. It's great having all these fun new toys from Christmas/birthday. Both kids have been busy.

Snow!

We were very excited this morning to wake up to a blanket of snow, and while we don't have school age kids, I thought our Alaskan viewers might get a chuckle out of the fact that many schools were closed today because of the "harsh" weather conditions. It's actually quite a beautiful day! The neighbor kids are loving it.

Yummy snow

Joel could hard move in his big puffy coat.

Bathroom remodels and kids just don't go together

Kari and Joel playing in the tunnel they got for Christmas. We finally got Joel to go in by throwing a ball in.

And this awful mess is our bathroom. We are in the process of trying to fix it. Greg repaired the floor with the help of a couple dads, so we're making progess and learning as we go.

I am very excited to make it pretty. See that lovely "placid blue" color in the top left corner? Soon all the walls will be that nice bathroomy color with accents of deep royal blue and chartreuse (lime green).

Afternoon fun

We're finally all on the mend. There are more smiles around here today than there have been all week. Hooray!

Kari making a BLT forDaddy (when he gets home)

Little brother getting in the way

She still loves to hold Joel. He can get away from her now, though, if he wants to. He doesn't crawl, though. He just scoots on his rear. This morning he scooted all the way from the living room, down the hall, and into the bathroom where Kari was.