November 2nd - 29th, 2012

Hi Everyone!

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving! 

The past three weeks have been very full for us as we had some of our favorite people, Joy and James, spend two full weeks with us over Thanksgiving. Kate and Noah also were able to stay with us for most of that time as well, so we had a houseful and we had such a great time together! Having six adults and two kids to one bathroom was kind of like camping indoors, but we didn't mind a bit. We were all just thrilled to be together for so many days. It's neat that God worked it out that Noah's job happened to be between contracts so he was off work almost the whole time. We packed several events into our time with them, as you'll see below, but we also got to spend plenty of time just sitting, talking, and being together.

 The day after J&J arrived we went to the city Christmas parade. It was coooold! Blake and Seth did pretty well though, especially when the fire trucks went by. 

 Waaay too much candy was passed out that day. :) Mysteriously, the candy never made it home and was completely forgotten about on the way. 

 Joy and I hosted a baby shower for Kate while everyone was here. It was really fun and Kate got lots of great things for baby Maher.

 Seth had a new swing buddy. I don't think Seth remembered Aunt Joy from a year ago, but he quickly warmed up to her. 

 James took charge of the turkey and the final product was the BEST turkey I have ever had. No exaggerating. Can't go wrong with any Alton Brown recipes!

 One of the things we did together was have a Turkey Day Tournament that included six different contests to find the "Ultimate Grand Master Champion" for the day. The first contest was target shooting with our BB gun in the backyard. Micah won the target contest, but Jonathan got honorable mention for his perfect bull's eye shot.

 And they feast, feast, feast...

 Seth taking a saw to his faithful steed. Don't ask me why this is fun.

 Another of the tournament games...Zonk. I believe Noah was the winner here. 

 We celebrated Joy and Jame's 31st birthdays.

I really like this picture. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone last Sunday, but maybe, someday, we will all live close by and live happily ever after. :)

I know we've had a plethora of Blake and Seth-isms the past few weeks, but I haven't been as good about writing them down.  

-Blake and Seth talk about "Kate's Baby" every so often and they  sometimes pray for Kate's baby too. One day Seth was sitting on the couch with Uncle Noah, and patting Noah's belly asked, "Do you have a baby too?"  :) 

-Sometimes the boys will take their naps in the same room together so we always have to remind them not to talk to each other when it's nap time. Today Blake said, "Mommy, talking in bed is my work." He went on to explain that talking is his work just like Daddy goes to work and makes sales. 

-The boys have been getting over a cold and as you know, when you're sick you can be extra emotional over just about anything. We heard Blake crying rather vehemently during naptime and when we went in and asked what was the matter he said, "Daddy, there's sunshine  shining on the ceiling." Apparently, when  you're sick even a sliver of sun peeping through the blinds can be cause for tears. 

Hmmm...I'm sure I'll think of more later, but that's all for now. :)

Love to you all!

Kari, Micah, Blake and Seth 

Oct. 22nd - Nov. 1st, 2012

Hi Everyone,

Here is are pictures of the outing we went on for Micah’s birthday. We had a coupon for entrance to the Maize Adventure in a nearby town. We went through a corn maze for a while. Micah was an expert guide and we didn’t get lost one time. We rode on a train around the farm and then dug for fossils. The boys had a great time.

 Digging for fossils. :)

 The train "conductor" came up to the boys and invited them to sit on his tractor. You can imagine how thrilled they were. :) 

Kate came to visit yesterday and stayed through today. The boys just love "Kate-kate" and kept saying that Kate was taking too long to get here when I told them she was coming. 

We are really excited that Joy and James are coming to visit us in just a few weeks and will get to stay through Thanksgiving. It’s going to feel like one long holiday vacation. Can’t wait!

A few Blake and Seth –isms…

Micah was dealing with a “who does it belong to” argument with the boys and asked Blake “Is that yours or Seth’s?” Blake said, “It’s both of mine”.

The boys were pretending to be a train outside on the deck the other day. Seth was holding onto Blake’s coat as he was dragged around in a circle. Blake said he was the engine and Seth exclaims, “I’m the ka-moose!”

Blake came up to me with a special coin and in a very secretive voice whispered, “Don’t tell Daddy, and don’t tell Seth and don’t me, where I’m going to hide this.”  

 Love to you all, 

Kari, Micah, Blake, and Seth

Oct. 5th- 21st, 2012

 Hi Everyone!

Things have been fairly normal the past two weeks. The weather is cool some days and perfect other days. Blake and Seth are enjoying putting on their hats to go outside. I hope that keeps up, because last year I couldn't keep their hats on for anything.

 Can't go through Fall without visiting a pumpkin patch at least once.

They had a really cool old-fashioned corn grinder that took all the kernels off the cobs. I know there was a certain name for it, but it's escaping my memory at the moment. It was amazing how efficient it was!

Seth protecting his baby. :) The other day there was a spider on the floor and Seth stood next to me and said, "I will protect you, Mommy". 
 

 You can see why I get asked if they are twins every time I go the grocery store. Seth is really catching up! 

Ready for a precious picture? We had a special outing to the Dr.'s office on Friday where all of us got to see our baby on ultrasound. The boys sat on Micah's lap and watched the computer screen with amazement. This is 4D picture of the baby's face at 20 weeks old, can you see it? Looks like there is a slight smile on it's face. :) We stuck with our plan to wait to find out the baby's gender and we can hardly wait for the big day. Half way there already!

Micah turned 28 yesterday! It was great that it landed on a Saturday so we could be together the whole day. We took a day trip out of town and had a blast! (I'll post picture of outing with the next post)

A few funnies....

While on a walk Micah and Blake were talking about dogs. Micah was educating Blake about which dogs were "manly dogs" and which ones were "girly dogs". Poodles were deemed "girly" for example. Blake thought for a minute and then said, "Dogs with flat hair are boy dogs and dogs with poofy hair are girl dogs."  :

Blake said of his dinner the other night, "Theses carrots are good, even for rabbits!". 

 In other news...

Seth and I spent many hours over the course of this week in the bathroom in Potty Training Land. He has done so well and I'm really proud of him. He likes his Thomas the Train underwear and so far, the animal crackers have been incentive enough to keep Thomas dry. :) This means we should be diaper-free for five whole months! Yay!

Love to you all!

Kari, Micah, Blake and Seth

Sept. 14th- Oct. 4th, 2012

Hi All!

I decided to take the week off from posting an update last week since it was my birthday. So it's been three weeks since my last update, and it feels like we have had a lot going on.

First off, our little trip to Myrtle Beach with Cindy and Susanna was so nice! We were there for three nights and enjoyed every bit of it. The boys had a blast in the sand and even more so in the pool and kiddie pool. We got to spend some time with Kate too.

Speaking of Kate, she and Noah found out they are having a boy! Blake and Seth will have at least one boy cousin to play with over the years. :) 

 Seth "out cold" after spending all his energy on the beach. He still likes me to tuck him in tightly. He asks me by saying "Will you tuck me in like a baby?" I guess he has fond memories of being swaddled when he was a baby. He is very much enjoying his role as baby-of-the-family right now. He's going to have a few adjustments to make come March 9th. :)

Dad and the Bros came over one evening to celebrate my birthday. My favorite group of guys. Except for Micah, of course! He's my favoritest.

 Well, the countertop we've been waiting for finally came! After much shopping around and some haggling here and there we got a SUPER deal on the granite. It pays to shop! That's the last big piece of the kitchen remodel and as you can see the final product looks so good. I told Micah and I'm very much enjoying the updated kitchen as it is the room I spend the most time in on an average day.
 

 We had the privilege of attending Nate Olson's wedding in Virginia. It was absolutely beautiful. The boys did pretty well during the ceremony and were thrilled about the bubbles they got to blow over the newly wedded couple as they exited the church.

 Blake looking contemplative in his little outfit.

 The Bros.

 While Kate was visiting we had to get at least one "belly picture". Kate is just too cute as a pregnant lady. No, really, she is way too cute. She is now at 22 weeks and I'll be 18 weeks this Friday. It's flying by!

 The boys like to eat the leftover dough out of the mixer when I make bread. I remember fighting over who got to clean out the bowl when I was a kid. This picture represents one of the very few times Blake's fingers have entered Seth's mouth without being bitten.

 Like I said, we've been busy around here. Last weekend we  drove to Rock Hill, SC for two nights for a reunion of sorts with some of the staff Micah and I worked with at Verity. They are such great people and the kind of friends you can pick right back up with after years of not seeing each other. Last time we all got together was three years ago before any of us kids, now there are six kids between us. Blake had a blast with the other three year old boy, as you can see. There was lots of silliness and "boy-noises" that weekend.

Well, I have a few "golden" Blake and Seth-ism for you this time....

We've been talking a lot about the new baby coming and the boys have been asking questions about it here and there. On the way to the park Seth asked, "Is the baby going to come out and play with me at the park?"
 
I had a close encounter with what could have been my most embarrassing moment ever. At the park, we were playing near a lady who was pleasantly plump and all in the belly. Blake came up to within a few feet of her and me and pointed to her and said, "Look Mommy! She has a baby too!" The lady heard him and paused her conversation with her friend to look at him. I had about half a second to figure out how to salvage the moment. Thank the LORD there happen to be a lady holding a baby in the distance directly behind her! In a split second I pulled Blake over to me so that he his line of sight was aligned to the lady holding the baby and I pointed at her said, "Well, look at that, she sure does!"  Thankfully, I think the lady bought it and she went back to talking to her friend. Whew! That was a close one. I guess we will need to have a talk about when not to point out that someone else "has a baby".  :)

Well, that's all I can think of for now. I'm sure there's more, but I'll save them for next time.

Have a good weekend!

Love,

Kari, Micah, Blake, and Seth

August 31st - September 13th, 2012

Hi All!

Blake and Seth thought it was fun to roll around in the grass the other day. The weather has be beautiful this week and when I got Seth's sweater out he asked, "What's that?". I guess it's been a while since he's seen a sweater. The mornings and evenings have been cool and the humidity is low, which makes for great outdoor playing weather.

 Ouchies are a big deal around here. We always tell Mommy when they happen and give regular updates on how they are doing. Seth loves to put his "Frosty Bear" ice pack on his ouchies when they are especially bad. Makes for a good distraction at least.

 We all know Seth is trying to decide whether or not to stomp on Blake's face at this point. :)

 I like this one of Seth. :) 

 Blake doing a lion impersonation. 

 Taking a break. 

Back to their favorite past-time. 

We got to spend a Saturday with the Olson kids/siblings in Farmville, VA. It's a quaint little town that's sort-of a halfway point for us to meet. It was so hot and humid that day, but we still packed a lot into our time together: lunch, hanging out at the park, miniature golf, ice cream, and then back to the park for a 2 mile walk (to work off the ice cream). :) We had a really good time together and of course the boys had a blast getting to see Tim, Lindsey, Jona, Ben, Sue, Joe, and Zach again.

 All geared up!

 Blake and Seth with Zach, Jonathan and Lindsey. 

 Seth takes his golfing very seriously. 

 The whole gang! (minus a few that couldn't make it that day) :(

So, I'm not sure how this started, but any time Seth sees me folding laundry he grabs Daddy's socks and asks me, "Mommy, can you put these on me so I can run?" Apparently, simply wearing Daddy's socks makes him run faster through the house. I probably shouldn't encouraging running through the kitchen in sock, but...

Hope you all are doing well! 

Love, 

Kari, Micah, Blake, & Seth