6 months already!

At the end of this month, Jonas will be 6 months old.  It doesn't feel like we've had him nearly that long, and yet in the middle of the night it feels like we've had him forever and haven't had a full nights sleep in just as long!!  Here's his post-bath-cool-dude look and also a picture of the cupcakes that I'm taking to Sunday School tomorrow to celebrate our little boy :)

Life is a Highway

Background:  When Kara had the flu in January, our friends lent us the disney/pixar movie "Cars".  We must have watched it a dozen times.  We have since returned it, but Kara keeps asking to watch it.  The only thing we have been able to find on YouTube is the music video for Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts that shows scenes from the movie.  So now we have watched that video about a thousand times.

Anyways ... tonight we took the kids to the pool.  Jonas and I just watched because he's still sick, but Curtis and Kara had a great time.  At the end of the evening, I was waiting outside for them to come out, and all of a sudden I hear loud, little-girl-singing coming from the men's change room.

"Life is a highway ... I going to ride it all day long"

I love that girl.

Latest project

I'm realizing that because I spend a lot of time at home with the kids (read: A LOT of time), I need to have a project or two on the go to keep me feeling creative and as an alternative to the never-ending cooking and cleaning that I could be doing ...

So here is my latest project.  I will hang these little bags on a small rope and string them up for our countdown to Jesus' birthday.  If you're interested in where I got the idea, look here

Milestone day

Jonas learned to stand against the couch to look at the cars going down the street.
He could look at cars all day long!

Kara dressed herself for the first time today!
Please note the pants on backwards and the lack of any undergarments :)
Curtis taught her how to say she was "going commando"

We had our first ever family movie night tonight!  The popcorn was a huge hit.
This picture reminds me of that scene in Forrest Gump when big Forrest and little Forrest both tip their heads at the same time and then you know they are father and son.  Kara and I both stuff popcorn into our mouths with reckless abandon :)

Bathtub fun

In between scrubbing and soaping and shampooing and lifeguarding and refereeing, I grabbed my camera and took a few quick pictures.  Just because they're cute :)  (Please note:  before I had kids, I used to hate it when people talked about how cute their kids were.  I really hated it.  I found it annoying. Curtis and I would even make fun of them!  And now, here I am, doing what I swore I wouldn't do.  How little I knew!)

Don't freak out, man!

So this morning I was trying my best to give Kara a beautiful hairdo for the day, but she just wouldn't cooperate and was wiggling all over the place.  The more she wiggled, the more exasperated I was getting - finally I say (rather forcefully) "stop freaking out, man!"

To which my two-year old responds "No Mommy - I'm not a man".

You're right.  I'm sorry :)

Random thoughts on the past few weeks ...

The weather has been crazy!  Last week it was warm enough to shovel without a jacket on and we spent tons of time hauling the kids around in the wagon and the sled.  This week, it's so cold that your lungs hurt as soon as you go outside.  And we're getting a bit tired of all the shovelling (and by we I mean Curtis - I'm making liberal use of the "one flesh" concept!)  Locals to the ditch say that we've had more snow this winter than in many, many years.

This is what our lovely thermometer read yesterday morning - before windchill!

This picture is because we've been talking about how excited we are to get both kids in the bike trailer when the weather improves, so we had to try on Jonas' helmut.  Maybe a bit big still ...

And now the kids are sick again :(  Kara has pneumonia (or as she likes to say "I have a ammonia mommy!")  I think we're past the worst of it, but it hasn't been fun.  Jonas is sick now too - prayers are welcomed.

We seem to revert to "baby" tendencies when sick - like demanding only sippy cups!

Last night I went to see The King's Speech.  It was a great movie with really great acting and I recommend it, but that's not the point of mentioning it.  To provide a couple of hours of "me" time, not only did Curtis stay home with our sick kids, but he also babysat my friends' kid so that she could come with me!  So this is just a shout out to Curtis, who is my hero every day, but especially was last night.  Thank you for giving me the gift of free time which is so precious to me lately.  You are gracious and I love you.

And finally, one last picture, just because I think he's cute!