Ahhh... that's more like it. Now I have room to stretch AND I have a great mobile to look at! Mom tells me this thing I am holding is "Ms. Elle". (It is an elephant) She says it will become my sidekick like Ms Bunny and Mr Fish are to Kaylin and Ethan. (Isn't my family creative with names?!) :)

Big Brother and Big Sister checking out the situation!

4/4/06 - Puzzles are all the rage right now. Ethan has just moved up to 25 piece jigsaw puzzles. Kaylin is getting pretty good at her 4-5 piece puzzles. (the 2 that they are holding are currently their favorites) Note the enthusiasm on their faces for this posed shot. Oh well, at least they cooperated and posed for me! :)

Survey Says...

Well, it has been about a month, but my cousin, Keely, "tagged" me on her blogspot with the following questions. So if anyone is interested, you may read my responses that follow:

4 jobs that I have had:
1) Food Engineer
2) Emergency Responder
3) Milk Producer
4) Interpreter/Arbitrator
............of course, all these have been on the same job,
my favorite job ever - being a MOM!
For OUTSIDE the home, I have detassled, done the fast food thing, Inventory Specialist at Barilla Warehouse, Employee Service Rep at Mayo, and a Receptionist. I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up!

4 Movies I like:
1) Lord of the Rings Trilogy
2) Star Wars (all 6)
3) Emma
4) Anne of Greeen Gables/Avonlea
5) What About Bob

4 Favorite Books: (other than the Bible, of course)
1) Tale of 2 Cities
2) Sherlock Holmes
3) This Present Darkness (Peretti)
4) Redeeming Love (F. Rivers)

4 favorite T.V. shows:
1) TLC, HGTV (decorating house, organizing)
2) FOOD TV (30 min meals, Good Eats...)
3) Monk (but never get to watch it...)
4) Friday night Sci Fi!!!!!!
(We make a date of watching Star Gate Atlantis, SG1,
and Battlestar Galactica)

4 places I have been on vacation:
1) Juarez Mexico (work trip)
2) Cedar Rapids, Iowa :)
3) Bella Vista, Arkansas
4) Colorado (Denver area)
(and hope to next year add Lyon, France!)

4 favorite foods (This is a hard one....)
1) Lasagna (NO carrots!) :)
2) Chinese - any and all
3) Liver and Onions (not my absolute favorite, but i DO like it!)
4) Chocolate Cake or Mounds Cake with vanilla ice cream
5) Icecream (any) and Blizzards (Snickers, Mud Fudge, or Cap. Heath)
6) Any good, down home cooking (Meat, potatoes, veggies)

As you can see, I cheated on almost every question by listing
MORE than 4 answers, but it's MY blogspot, so I can do that! :)

Early March 2006

2 peas in a pod!
Ethan is such a gentle and kind older brother!


The latest Ethan/Kaylin game. Kaylin hangs onto Ethan's shirt while they run between the living and bonus rooms. Kaylin gets distraught if Ethan runs too fast for her to hand on. She will drop to her knees, bury her head in her hands and wail "catch youuuu, catch youuuuu"!


Krystin is 4 months old. She's now 24.5 inches long and weighs 15 pounds! The beginning of March has seen many firsts for her. She rolled over from front to back. She also laughed (at "itsy bitsy spider" Mama fingers crawling up her belly and sides)


"See! My measuring Worm proves that I AM 24" long!"


First time Krystin is in the Megasaucer. All 3 children have enjoyed this toy (as well as Mom for the hands-free time it allows me!)


Pace time with Dad. Krystin, like her brother and sister before her, has come to expect pace time with Dad while Mom is busy fixing supper. When Dad gets home, she gets fussy until he picks her up to pace her :)


March 10. 1st Rice Cereal for Krystin. Notice Kaylin looking on. She was so excited for her little sister. Kaylin hasn't been real "love-y" with Krystin, but she tends to look out for her baby sister. She is the first to notice if Krystin is not around and wants to know where she is. She also lets me know when Krystin spits up. And if Krystin is fussing in her recliner chair, Kaylin usually goes over and shows her a toy.

February 2006 Pics

V-Day Brownie for Dad.
Ethan, Kaylin, and Mama made and decorated this for
Dad on Valentines' Day. It was YUMMY!


"kLaylin, close your eyes like THIS!"


"OK !" (because I do whatever big brother Ethan does)


"Would somebody OPEN their eyes and pay attention to ME?!"


Kids "in the Hood"
Whenever Ethan and Kaylin wear shirts with hoods, they like me to put their hood up and chant: "Ethan in the hood, yah, Ethan in the hood".


Watercolor painting.
We did this activity on a day when Dad was home to help watch Krystin so Mom could focus on the 2 young Michelangelos. Mom even got to do a little painting, but her artwork was sabotaged by Kaylin's creative brush strokes.


I believe my children prefer abstract painting


Working Out.
Dan and I are trying to help each other get up early 3 times a week to work out. My goal is to drop a couple jean sizes by the time I turn 30 in June. Anyway, getting up early doesn't always work, so this is a picture of my back-up plan :)


Quality Time. It makes my heart so happy knowing my children have such a great Dad! Prayerfully they will relate that someday to knowing how much their Heavenly Father loves and cares for them!


Ethan being TOO cute while eating a blueberry muffin. Notice our new plates and cups. The kids like to use the "bubble" or "dot" plates. And speaking of "bubbles" - Kaylin LOVES bubbles.….of any kind. Every morning we MUST see AND poke (with one finger because mom doesn’t allow the whole hand in the sippy cup) the bubbles in our orange juice!!!