fun at the fair?

beautiful weather? check.

3 excited children, 1 double stroller and a Baby Bjorn? check.

a walk through all the animal barns happily making animal noises at all the animals? check.

one cow tatoo for G? check.

petting baby farm animals? check.

corn dog? check. (a yummy wild rice one!)

food on a stick? check. (pizza on a stick - yeah!)

Little Farm Hands farmwork for G & W? check.

sitting on tractors? check. (don't ask about the adorable picture of little C I missed due to not having extra batteries along - I am still sore on that one)

ice cream and local strawberries from the Dairy Goodness bar? check.

2 happy and exhausted parents? check.

fun at the fair? check and double check.

(look at how much our big girl has grown from last year!!!!)

four!

Last Saturday was G's 4th birthday. Seriously! I really don't know how it came to this so fast. And being that G turned 4, of course we had 4 birthday parties! (really, this was a coincidence - we are NOT going to set this precedence)

Birthday Party #1:

The Sunday before G's birthday, all the B's gathered at M&C's house for a birthday lunch. G's birthday is the 29th, Auntie C's birthday is just 5 days before hers, and Uncle C's birthday is the month following so we celebrated everyone's!

Auntie C taking her turn blowing out candles on the cake - with plenty of help, of course!

And Uncle C taking his turn blowing out the candles on the yummy 7 lb chocolate cake! =)

We had a very nice afternoon all together!

Birthday Party #2:

G's actual birthday! Boppa and Aahma were here to help celebrate. We had one of G's favorite meals for lunch - homemade mac'n'cheese and hotdogs. Then it was time for presents! G got some fun books, a puzzle and jean pocket bean bags (filled with soybeans from Boppa's field) from Aahma and Boppa, a big set of duplo lego blocks from us, and then...

...a bike!!! This was a big surprise for G and she was SO excited! She had well grown out of her trike and needed some new wheels (or at least new to her - S & I knew the presents that we wanted to get for her and decided to find them on craigslist instead of buying them new. bike $25 -plus $12 for new bell and streamers, blocks $20...savings of $80-$100 easily!)!

G getting ready to go while S instructs her on the finer points of braking, going slow, don't go out in the street without and adult, always wear your helmet, look ahead at where you are going..."OK Dadda, let's just GO!"

And there she goes...good thing I was behind the camera so no one could see the tears rolling down my cheeks - is she really this old already? What a big girl!

G getting a new bike means that W gets upgraded to the trike (he thinks he is the big man now when he rides it), and little C gets upgraded to the stroller. New fun for everyone!

Quite the birthday parade!

Birthday Party #3:

That evening Uncle J, Antie C, K & G came by with a gift for G...

...a new art smock made by Auntie C and water color pencils - what fun! And then we all went out to eat at G's favorite restaurant, noodles. Good noodles and a good time was had by all!

Birthday Party #4:

Sunday afternoon we had our neighbors over for a little party for G. We have been blessed with wonderful neighbors who are so nice and who love the kids. So it is always fun to get together with them. And what better excuse than a birthday party!

Mrs. L asked G quite a while back what kind of birthday cake she was going to ask for this year. G of course answered "chocolate!" Then somehow Mrs. L and her decided that the chocolate cake needed to have pink frosting. With that tall order, I teased Mrs. L that she should make it, and she actually did! Complete with sprinkles too. It was very yummy and everyone enjoyed it!

~~~

S and I may lament how fast G (and all the kids!) is growing up, but really, we are having so much fun watching G get big and mature. It is amazing the things she can do. She is a bright, happy, social little girl who loves to play, create, sing, pretend, be outside, talk, ask WHY, and who can understand so much already.

We love you G!

so the B family went on a mini-vacation...

(subtitled " the lady went a little crazy with collages")

They may have been tired at their house (really?), so before they left they may have sighed when making plans (thinking of all the work it would be with the little kids).
They may have grumbled when packing for this mini-vacation (they really don't like packing!).
They may have asked each other "are we sure we want to go?" at one point (only one though!).
They may have hrumphed and complained a few times during the drive in the car (there are only so many times one can listen to VeggieTales sing "The wheels on the bus...", at least if you are an adult).

But...

When it came down to it, they were really were excited to take a trip together as a family and do some fun thing with the kids and spend some time with good friends.

So off they went!

They stopped at the zoo...

Splashed at a water park in the hotel...


Spent such an enjoyable evening with friends B&A on their acreage...


Visited old stomping grounds...


And had a wonderful time reconnecting with dear dear friends E&T...


As well as loved friends (and pseudo-parents) M&A...


They had such a good weekend and feel very blessed with the time they spent together as a family and with friends. It was well worth it and was very good for their tired spirits.

2009 garden update...

2009 Garden - week 9

Peas - total harvest: 3 pods.
Tasty 3 pods though

2009 Garden - week 10

Green beans are ready!
(so are the marigolds apparently, according to G)
First picking of beans yields enough for a couple of meals...

...and some to snack on right off the bush!

Little C didn't want to be left out of the fresh snack either!

Green beans have been such a great thing to grow with the kids. G&W really loved helping pick the beans, snap the ends off and wash them, as well as eat them!
They are the favorite veggie of choice for them, enjoyed dipped in ketchup and sometimes accompanied by monkey noises while they pretend to eat "green bananas."

Hey, anything to get the 2 yr old to eat something green.

2009 Garden - week 11

Green beans are coming out of our ears.
We had enough for another couple meals to eat fresh, and we also blanched and froze 6 pints and 1 quart of beans. This was something I was particularly proud of as this was the first time in 3 years that we have had enough beans to "put up" to eat later!

2009 Garden - week 13

End of the green beans! Would have had more to "put up", but we went on a mini-vacation and didn't pick before we went and they got big and gicky and went to feed the compost. Did get enough good ones for one more meal, though!

The weeds aren't winning yet, but they are putting up a good fight and we aren't trying too hard to obliterate them.

Oh, and how much this one grew in a couple of weeks! He is 7 1/2 months here and is getting so big! He now sits up by himself so well, is rolling, and can wiggle himself to get pretty much where he wants to go.

Little C is a really happy baby and loves to be outside with all of us. We love this sweet baby so much!


Promise of red goodness to come, Lord willing!

G-isms...

momma (reading G the joke on her yogurt container): "What do you get when you cross a rabbit and a cow?............Hare in your milk!"

--lots of laughs from kiddos although they don't know why or get it--

G (a few minutes later trying to re-tell the joke to W): "Why did the bunny and the cow cross the road?...............Milk in your hair!!!"

--loads of laughter, this time momma included!

swimming lessons...

I was not planning on the kids taking swimming lessons this year. I was certain that we would start them soon as I really want them to have more ability and comfort in the water than I do (Mom and Dad finally let me quit swimming lessons after I still couldn't pass advanced beginners and I was going into 6th grade!). But come on. G is 3, W is 2, C is still a baby, and S's schedule is not 8-5 everyday -- there is NO way I thought we could handle lessons this year!

Then, after dear s.i.l. C's blog post about their girls taking swimming lessons, I followed her link to Swim America's website and the following things fell into place:
-the last session of lessons was only 1 week (4 lessons) long
-the lessons were only lasted 30 minutes
-they offered lessons in the evenings
-S happened to have all the evenings off the week of the last session
-they started lessons at 3 yrs of age
-and they offered a parent/tot class at the same time as lessons for kids 2 and under

Hmmmmm...S and I talked and started to think maybe we COULD do swimming lessons this year. It would give G a good intro into the water and lessons, and S&W could do the parent/tot class as W is SO monkey-see-monkey-do where his big sister is concerned. So we decided to do it. And I have to admit, I think I was as excited for lessons as G was! It kind of felt like we were doing something "normal," if that makes any sense!

It was a family affair every evening and pretty much took up our whole week. We would make sure that we ate supper early, then we would get everything and everyone ready to go. Little C and I would watch from the stands, S&W did the parent/tot class, and G took level 1 lessons. Then we would quick rinse off after lessons, drive home, throw G&W in the bath and then in bed. Then S and I would take care of suits and towels so they would dry. Only to start all over again the next day!

G had her own teacher which was really nice. One of the things that they do with the kids in level 1 is get them to dunk their heads. We prepped G for this (thanks for the heads up, C!), and she was ready. So ready in fact that not more than 5 minutes into the first lesson she dunked her head under!

My big girl! I was so proud of her! After trying it once though, she didn't do it as willingly the rest of the week, but there were never any tears which we were so happy about.

W's class was more just getting him used to the water. Playing with water toys, dumping water over dadda's head and his head, lots of laughing and smiling (mostly by S and the teacher trying to convince W he liked it, but by the end of the week W joined in too).

But monkey-see-monkey-do W couldn't let his sister have all the spotlight...he dunked a couple of times too!

This really impressed S and I. On the last day, G held the bar and did 5 bobs with her head under water all by herself! She didn't pass to level 2 (which we were actually both glad about), but has a great start to continue with next year.

All in all, a pretty good week.

And now the kids don't yell so much when I dump water over their heads in the bath.

"This post is soooo three weeks ago, but I wanted to do it anyway."

This is more from "the weekend" in Edgerton. There was SO much that went on that weekend, and I have so many pictures to share, but life and kids got in the way of posting in a more timely manner. I still wanted to post about it, plus to make a long process and story short, I got a discount to upgrade my collage program and have been messing around with that here and there and wanted to share those too. So here we go!

It is a 4 hour drive to my mom and dad's farm. With kids that is generally 5+ hours. We actually made this trip in a little over 4 hours, because the kids did so well and we had a...


...van picnic! We stopped for chicken strips and fries and shakes for supper on the way and decided to try to eat in the car and the kids were so excited about it! Made easy for G&W by cutting up the chicken strips with "purse scissors" and putting them and fries in a cup. The kids thought that this was seriously awesome. =)


Little bit of background on the first event of "the weekend." When my parents had been married 25 years, we as a family went and had professional pictures taken. When they had been married 30 years, we took another family photo (not professional for that one...I set it up...Grandma K climbed a ladder and took the photo...turned out great though!). Well, they now have been married a bit over 35 years, and we were all going to be home for "the weekend", so Thursday morning we had a professional photo shoot at the farm...


...in front of the barn. It was a lot of fun and the pictures turned out great! If you would like to take a peek at a slideshow of them, click here.


And this...


...is my brother M (and his lovely wife A). This picture is not from "the weekend." This is back from May when he graduated from Western Theological seminary. Baby C and I flew out for that and had a great time, but I never got around to blogging about that trip! Anyway, the reason I post this picture here is for 2 reasons. #1: "The weekend" was really all about M. He was ordained as a minister in the Reformed Church in America and we all were in Edgerton to witness that and be a part of the service. #2: Even though "the weekend" was all about him, I did not take one single picture of him! I did not try this. It was not repressed oldest child feelings of it was ALWAYS all about him, the baby, coming out. It was not because I did not enjoy the ordination service. And it was not because I did not like his new haircut. It was just one of those things that happened! Fortunately, I was able to get a few pictures from others...


...so I can show you a little of what happened at ordination. It was a beautiful service and very meaningful, really tying the stories and words of scriptures vividly to the here and now for M and all of us. Friends and relatives participated with music, preaching, reading the charge to M, and serving communion. M's first church is in Nebraska and him and A will start there in September. M, it has been a privilege to see you graduate from seminary and be ordained this year. We know that God will do wonderful things through you and A and are excited for you to be a pastor (a real live one! =). We love you and will continue to pray for you and look forward to coming to visit and being able to worship with you!


OK, another possible reason that we don't have any pictures of M & A is that they left on Friday for a month long vacation starting with a family reunion at Yellowstone Nat'l Park and then spending the rest of it in Washington with A's family where they will celebrate her brother's wedding. S also had to leave on Friday to go back to work being that it was semi-annual inventory on Saturday. But the kids and I stayed at the farm for the weekend and so did a lot of our relatives so there was much more fun to be had. Like with this guy...


...my Uncle R. He works for the National Park Service and lives (literally!) at Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park in Colorado. One of the things my Uncle R is famous for is his pizza. Oh, his pizza! =) So Friday night 14 of us gathered to eat Uncle R's pizza. He makes his pizza from scratch...


...and we always have fun helping him. And this year Uncle R gained a little helper, G, and became her friend forever for how much fun she had with him! Uncle R commented that it was a little bit of de ja vous having G help him as he remembers me helping him when I was little too. W helped too - he helped himself to a large amount of pizza toppings while we put it all together. So much fun! Thanks for the awesome pizza, Uncle R!


This is Dad:


This is the shed that Dad built (or is building):


My dad is building a new machine shed this summer and was working on it throughout "the weekend" too. When we arrived, the large vertical poles were being put in, and by the end of the weekend they were all up with crossboards on too. G&W had so much fun watching and "helping" and also playing in the large pile of pea gravel near the shed. Update on the shed: the cement floor has been poured and now rafters are also up!


On Saturday, Mom and I and the kids took a quick trip to visit my Aunt R and cousin C. Here is our attempt at a group picture!

It was so much fun to see my cousin C and her little guy E, who is 10 months old! It is neat because there are 10 grandchildren on the K side and we were all born in the span of 6 years! So all of us are in very similar stages of life right now. And of my Grandma K's 8 great-grandchildren, one is 6 yrs old, one is almost 4 yrs old, and the other 6 are 2yrs old and under! So lots of little kids fun. And Gma, I have to tell you what G said the other day to a lady in the grocery store. She was wearing one of the outfits you made her for this summer, and when the lady complimented her on it, she told her proudly that "My Nana made it! She make ALL my clothes." =)


The last event of "the weekend" was of course, Sunday dinner...


...around Mom and Dad's ping-pong table. There were 20 of us for Sunday dinner which doesn't fit around Mom and Dad's dining table. This has never been a problem for Mom and Dad, they just moved dinner to the basement, threw a table cloth over the ping-pong table and we all enjoyed sitting down together, eating and fellowshipping with each other. The piano was handy too for a hymn sing - Aunt M played and we all called out favorites that we wanted to sing. I remember doing this at my Grandpa R's house and think it is a great tradition to continue.


After dinner, Dad and Aunt J drove the kids and I a little over an hour down the road to meet S. After switching cars, we kept on driving, had another van picnic for supper, and we were home in time for the kids to go to bed. It was a wonderful weekend - tiring!, but just wonderful.

And totally worth writing about 3 weeks late...