Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Yesterday we celebrated my Grandma's 80th birthday! My mom organized a great party in her honor. My aunt flew in from France and my uncle and his family drove down from Minnesota. Other family and friends also drove and it was a wonderful evening. We all enjoyed celebrating the life of such a fabulous woman.

Here is a picture of my grandma when she was about one. So darling and I think there is a strong resemblance between she and Emily when she was this age.

Here are "the grandkids." Well, I have three other cousins (who are from France) that weren't able to be there. But, my sister put together a darling scrapbook that each of the grandkids contributed their favorite memories and pictures of Grandma Carolyn so the absent cousins were able to share their thoughts and memories w/my grandma on her special day.

Here is Grandma w/her great-grandchildren (plus the two Annas b/c they were part of "the little kid" group). Christian decided to be a little twerp and make scowly-faces. He was all smirky smiles just after the picture was taken!

More on the festivities to come...didn't want one post to become too photo heavy.

Happy 80th Birthday, Grandma! You're the best--we love you!!!

Summer Storm

This is what rolled into our neighborhood this past week! No tornadoes, but the wind was absolutely INCREDIBLE! Our trees stood strong, but others' in our neighborhood were not so lucky. Some big branches came down on the transformer for our street/area and knocked out the power from about 8:30 until midnight. Across the street a huge part of a tree came down (thankfully into the street and not the house nearby). The next street over, one woman's tree got completely uprooted, knocking down their power lines in their front yard while in their back yard, their 100 ft tall maple snapped in half and fell onto their neighbor's new fence. Yikes.

We hung out in the dark for a bit, looking at pictures on the computer. (Christian was the only one awake--he'd taken a nap that day and wasn't quite asleep when all the commotion started.) Around 9:30, we got tired (and bored!) and just went to bed.

Thank goodness everything held strong--it was a crazy storm!

I Love a Parade!

This past weekend was our town's annual carnival and parade. It tends to fall on the stickiest day of the year (it has EVERY year since we've been here)! However, this year, my mom went early and set up our "spot" under a tree. We were set!

The kids were very excited to see everything get underway...it was great to see the parade march right through downtown and under this gigantic American flag. It was also great to see everyone stand as our flag came by to get the parade underway!


Christian was happy to see the mascot from the Storm Chasers and ran over to give him a big hug.

Our biggest highlight of the parade was watching and waiting for Harvey to come through! Harvey is in the musical this summer, "The Music Man!" He is a salesman and a townsperson and got to hand out stickers and candy in the parade. Emily and Christian were so excited when he
came by! Man, I love a parade!

Ready, Set, Swim!

This last week marked the official beginning of summer: swim lessons!

This year, Emily entered level 3...and it was a biiiiigggg step up from level 2! They hold class in the deep end (and only the deep end!). As big of a jump as it was for her, she was up for the challenge! It was incredible to watch her learn her crawl and back strokes, gliding, treading water, and diving.

Yes, diving, folks. Emily has never wanted to even jump off of the board before and by the end, she had learned to dive! (Granted, her off-of-the-board technique still needs some work, but, she'll be starting again on Monday so she'll get plently of practice!)

Christian graduated from Angelfish to Guppy this year. He worked on floating on his back, making big arm movements, and even putting his face in the water! He can also play a mean game of "Mr. Shark, What time is it?" and "Motorboat, motorboat."

On the last day, "fun day" it was rainy and a bit chilly so Christian enjoyed his time playing in the pool up above where the water slides are and then going down the slides with his instructors.

And where was Kari during all this swim fun? Exactly where she wants to be--on the sidelines, with me, as far from the water as she can get. This year, Kari wants NOTHING to do with the water. So, she sits on my lap and waves at her siblings while they swim and she stays nice and dry.

We just love swim lessons and can't wait for more!

The Road to Recovery

So, Kari is reaching for the camera. Big deal, right? But, did you happen to look at her mouth? It's FULL.OF.FOOD! A big moment, indeed. Lately, she seems to gobble up anything her Daddy makes for her. Not sure why, but if Mommy makes it--eh, she really isn't interested. However, if DADDY makes it, look out! She practically inhales it. But hey, I'm not complaining! As long as she's eating (even if it is the most random foods at the most random times), at least she's eating!

Look at this happy little smile! Sure love seeing more of this lately!

Finally, all of this recovery and eating is taking its toll! Today, after swim lessons, I sat Kari down on the couch while I hung up towels and suits. I come back a minute later, and she's completely zonked out on the couch. (And she wasn't even in the water!)

We are all so happy that Kari continues to get stronger (and happier!). Thank you to all who have fasted, prayed, and expressed concern on her behalf.

On the Mend

Sunday morning, after falling back asleep while snuggling w/Daddy.

Our little Kari is finally on the mend. For the last week and a half, Kari has been very sick. It started with a stomach bug that left her throwing up multiple times and night and then having huge blow-outs in her diaper (and out!) during the day. That lasted about 4 days. Then, she seemed to be doing better, only to take another dive two days later. It turned out (after multiple trips to the doctor) that her allergies (from pollen, not food) left her with a very red throat AND her eye-teeth were starting to come in--OUCH! (Thankfully, the strep test came back negative and ibprofen and tylenol made her much more comfortable.)

Now, Kari just did not have any baby fat to spare and she not only became even tinier than she already was, but she became very lethargic. (Obviously, she wasn't wanting to eat anything so of course she didn't have any energy!) So, between her sickness, food allergies, and the extreme pickiness of a toddler, we have definitely been fighting an up-hill battle to put some fat on this baby!

Thankfully, this week has slowly brought improvements. She's needed a lot of rest and her appetite still comes and goes at completely random times (and, we're still having occasional blow-out issues every other day or so). But, Kari is once again wanting to play and giggle--a welcomed sound even at 5:30 in the morning! We're so thankful that our little munchkin is feeling a bit peppier and we're praying she'll continue to bounce back in the coming weeks (and that we can fatten her up a bit!).

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Baseball season has begun! Once again, both kids wanted to play. (I'm happy that they both love the game, but it just gets so HOT here that I was secretly hoping that one of them wouldn't have wanted to!) But, we're sucking it up and having a great time!

Both kids had great first games--Christian was chanting "Hey, batter, batter, batter!" and running after everything. Emily got two hits (coach pitch) and made a stop while playing second base.

Great job, kiddos! We're looking forward to a great season!

Happy Birthday, Grandma Karen!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful mother!

We celebrated out at my grandma's house; having a yummy dinner and a surprisingly good cake from Hy-Vee (I'm serious--best store-bought cake I've ever tasted). Emily, Christian and Kari had fun "helping" Grandma open her presents--Kari especially liked the Borsheim's box from Harvey (she is such a fancy girl at heart!).

Grandma also had lots of help blowing out her candles...

While Daddy got help eating his cake!

Happy Birthday, Mom (Grandma)!! We love you!

Christian's Birthday-Part 2

So, I need to finish Christian's birthday posts. (This is my form of family history keeping afterall.) Last Sunday was his actual birthday and we kept it simple, but made sure he had a special day all the same. He got sung to in primary, had his choice of dinner (hot dogs), and Grandma, Aunti Erin and her boyfriend, Jeff, came over afterwards for cake and presents.

Erin and Jeff brought bubbles and, despite the stiffling humidity, the kids all enjoyed chasing after the bubbles on the patio.

Here is Christian opening a few of his gifts--he was pretty thrilled with his new-found Wolverine claws (thanks, Jeff!) and Grandma gave him a razor scooter that Christian (and Emily, and Daddy) have all enjoyed riding.

Here's the birthday boy with Erin and Jeff--all smiles here!

Happy Birthday, Christian! I can't believe it's been four years since you came into our family. You're such a sweet boy and we love you so much!

Characters

Today, Kari and Christian decided to become various characters. Can you guess which ones? Well, while I was dusting my dresser, Kari found some of my necklaces and bracelets and became "Fancy Nancy." I'm telling you, this girl loves to dress up and be "fancy." So, I got out my camera and told her to "smile!" and she gave me the cutest little smile ever! Then, when she was done with dress up, she brought me back my jewelry to put away. She's so good at cleaning up, it's scary.

Speaking of scary, can you guess who (or what) Christian was today?? A bat. Not Batman, just a bat. It was hilarious. I come out of the kitchen and see Christian, standing on the couch, all wrapped up in the blanket. I asked him what he was doing and he says, "Me a bat, Mommy!" and opened up his "wings."

And, although we've all been battling an ever-lingering stomach bug, and our car was in the shop today (so between the two we haven't been out anywhere all week), the kids did really well and we're enjoying kicking back a bit and not having to rush out the door every morning.