He's home!

Greg made it home safely last night. Joel was already asleep. Kari was in bed but still awake and was very excited to see her Daddy, even more excited when he told her he brought her a treat from Kentucky (second photo). It took her a while to go to sleep last night. Sure is nice to have him back.

Daddy's coming home tonight!

Greg's been in Kentucky on a business trip all week, and we can't wait to have him back! Each time I go it alone for a while, I have more awe and respect for all the single parents out there. It's a tough job. I'm thankful for my husband, thankful that he works so hard to provide for his family, thankful that he wants to come home to us. :)

Recent pics

We're having a rather long week--more on that later--and I just haven't felt like blogging, but today I thought I'd post a few photos from the last week or so.

Our bejeweled ballerina

watching a video after bath time

Joel thinks that some days he doesn't need a morning nap, but these lunch pictures say otherwise. I never did get him to wake up. I had to just put him down in his crib.

Grandma spent the morning with us today, and Kari showed off her new bike riding skills. She just started riding her "big girl" bike with training wheels. She hasn't figured out how to stop yet, so we go slow.

Kari Bible Verse Video

The irony of posting this immediately after the previous entry is not lost on me. :-) Dad put together this video of Kari saying verses she's memorized and used it at church on Sunday. The notebook in front of her has been the key to getting her excited about it. I print off a page with the verse and a picture and hang it on the frig while she's learning it. Once she knows it pretty well, she gets to put it in her notebook, which she loves. We're proud of her! Click here to watch.

Mystery solved--suspect guilty

morning mug shot

Yes, we found the cookies (the ones that hadn't been eaten anyway)-- in Kari's room. She showed me where they were in her closet this morning when I asked her about their disappearance. Her response was, "Well, I think I was going to be hungry sometime for more cookie."

Lost and (mostly) not Found

We are having issues at our home with things disappearing. We keep losing things, and it's driving me crazy! We've been missing the letter "u" frig magnet for many weeks now. Kari's necklaces (all but one) went missing for a week, but I finally found them last night in a bag we took down to Eugene last weekend. We keep losing Joel's pacifiers. We're constantly searching for juice/milk cups. And then tonight, the double chocolate chip cookies I made this afternoon disappeared! I only baked 9 of them, and they were in a container on the counter until after dinner. We didn't notice they were gone until after Kari was in bed and asleep, otherwise I would have asked her if she knew anything about their disappearance. I was the one who cleaned the kitchen. We have looked everywhere. I froze the rest of the dough, so I could just pop some more into the oven, but it's really bugging me that I can't find the ones I already made, or even the empty containter. I hate losing things! At this point, Kari is our suspect, but with my lapsing memory these days, maybe I'm actually to blame and just can't remember!

Day with the girls

Isn't she cute? I watched two of our nieces (Ryan and Michelle's girls) for the day. The weather was great, so we spent some time outside. I got some really good pictures of Lorelai. (I'll have to send them to you, Michelle.)

Joel's only 4 months older than Lorelai, but you'd think he was a lot older looking at them side-by-side. She's tall but petite, and he's just big and round. (I admit it's accentuated here because he's closer to the camera, but he is quite a bit bigger than she is!)

Kari and Ashlynn had fun playing together. Ashlynn preferred the little slide.

Broken Pinky

The x-rays showed that Greg did more than sprain his finger playing basketball (2 weeks ago), so yesterday he was fitted with the nifty plastic cast you see below.

This one's just for fun.

$2 Tuesday

We took a trip to the zoo today, and we had a great time--no rain and no crowds. It was fun to see Joel enjoying the animals this time. He especially liked the monkeys and elephants. The orangutans came right up to the glass where we were, and both kids thought that was great.

The elephants were getting their baths when we saw them.

Here's Kari looking at the zebras. We were a little disappointed that the giraffes weren't out today. Maybe they were napping.

Big mess

I should have known better. I set Kari up at the table with her fingerpaints and decided I'd try to organize our desk/computer area (directly behind Kari) while she was entertained. Joel was scooting around and playing in the living room. What I failed to notice soon enough was that finger painting had turned into table painting, with all colors mixed together. She's fingerpainted several times before this with very little mess--not so today! The paint was all over the table, all over Kari, on her clothes (in spite of the craft apron), on the floor, and on Joel's face and hands. Thank goodness for washable paint!

Whoever thought of Daylight Savings Time...

...must not have had kids. We hate Daylight Savings. This has been one bad, long day.

Thinking of Papa

My great-grandpa, "Papa," went to be with Jesus last Tuesday, and we went down for his memorial service on Friday. It was a good day of just family being together and thinking of old memories about Papa.

Grandma used to help us kids sprinkle this "love" spice on Papa while he was sleeping in his chair. When he woke up, he was always so nice! Looking back, I wonder if he was really sleeping.

Papa used to take us to Bi-Mart to buy us "Nerds." I'll never be able to see this candy without thinking of Papa.

Here's Papa holding baby Kari.

Papa was a pretty gruff old grandpa, but we could see past all that. As long as he was able (and a couple times, even when he wasn't all that able), he always stood up from his chair to greet me and give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek when we visited. I remember when Jane came with me to visit Grandma and Papa. She got kissed, too, and was very surprised. :)

"Hah-Buh-Dah"

It's kind of long, but grandparents and such should appreciate it. :)

The big 2-8

Today is my wonderful husband's 28th birthday. Happy Birthday, My Love!
Kari very much enjoyed your birthday. I hope you did, too! I love you very much.

We videoed Kari singing and playing "Happy Birthday" on her guitar, so once I figure out how to get it from our video camera onto our blog, I'll try to post it. Joel told his daddy "Ha-Buh-Da-Da-Da" today, too.

Day in the sunshine

We spent a good portion of our day outside since it was so nice and warm.
The top middle picture cracked me up. Kari was trying to roll the ball to Joel, but he turned just as the ball was coming to him. We went for a long walk/trike ride this afternoon. Kari's legs got quite the work out.

Movie Fort

When Greg got home from work on Friday, he made a "fort" for Kari to watch a movie in. She loved it, and she allowed Joel in for about five minutes, just long enough to take a couple pictures. He kept trying to pull the blanket down. He's becoming quite the pesky little brother, and she's becoming quite the bossy big sister. So it begins... As you can see, though, they really do love each other and do have fun together a lot of the time.

Mr. T

Kids are funny. She can't wear just one necklace.
She has to wear them all, and she puts them on in the same order every time. There is definitely a method.