Foree Family Anecdotes

Karina unleashed!

2011-03-23T22:50:00.000-07:00

Karina officially did it today... she told me on the way home from school that she wanted to practice riding her bike without her training wheels. You can't pass up that opportunity with Karina, so we got home and pulled out the bike. It only took a few laps around the cul-de-sac, and she was screaming with joy at her success!

"I can't wait for Mommy to get home so I can show her that I can ride with no training wheels!"

Mom got home shortly after, and though the wind blew hard, Karina showed off her great new skills. There was only one minor tragedy - she did hit a parked car. I think it was one of those things where you see the object coming, but you can't stop looking at it, and before you know it you bee-line right into it. But she quickly recovered - no blood, not on the car nor on her, and she got back on the bike and perfected her turning abilities.

Way to go, Karina!!! We're so proud of you!

Today's excitement reminded us of a similar occasion a few years ago with big sister Jadyn....

http://foreefamily.blogspot.com/2008/04/happy-lrbwtw-day.html

Me too!

2011-02-27T08:34:00.001-08:00

I, Daddy, walked into the kitchen this morning buttoning up the last 2 top buttons on my shirt, and Makenzie, finishing her breakfast, assumed it was time to leave. She started to say, "bye, bye Daddy," used to me being gone for work.

As I walked by Jadyn and Karina, I answered that we were all going. I try to be affectionate with my kids, so without thinking I patted my hand on Jadyn and Karina's heads as I said this. Immediately, Makenzie began touching her head and saying what I thought was "Pick me! Pick Me!"

I answered, "Of course you're coming. We're all going!"

She shook her head, touched her hair again, and said "No. Pet me, too! Pet me, too!"

Do cats run faster than elephants??

2010-10-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

Once again, we got the privilege of building and racing our own cars for the AWANA Grand Prix races. It was a bit crazy this year with only 2 weeks to somehow come up with 2 cars. Definitely made us wish we didn't have that rule that the girls have to do 98% of everything themselves. It was tough, but they did great and we made it on time to turn the cars in!

(Not to be left out, Makenzie insisted on posing for her picture by the wall at church, too!)

Jadyn came up with the idea of making her cat, Molly. Karina (big shock) wanted to make an elephant car. Never do they doubt Daddy's ability to make their crazy ideas become reality!Finally, race day is here. Makenzie wasted no time making a new best friend, Sammy!
She wanted to bring "Mammy" home with us!
They each got to race 8 times.

Both girls were very excited to make it to round 2 this year!
So fun to watch your car race to you!

A very successful race day, for sure!

Jadyn took 2nd place for design and Karina took 3rd!

Great job girls!!

And just so you all know...

According to our not-so-scientific study,

Elephants run faster than cats when you put them on wheels!!

Date with Daddy at the park

2010-10-27T09:03:00.000-07:00

Kitty Love

2010-10-26T23:36:00.000-07:00

Jadyn and Molly have a love relationship we will never quite

understand, but we are very thankful for it!

Fall Planting

2010-10-26T23:24:00.000-07:00

Kenzie moments

2010-10-26T22:36:00.000-07:00

2 Moms, 6 Kids...One Amazing Day!

2010-10-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

We went to our favorite place with our good friends, the Brinkley's. The zoo is always a fun trip, but it was even better on this day! Can't wait to go back!!

Liz and her 3 boys are a perfect combination with our 3 girls.

We can't seem to get enough of them!

Our own pack of little wolves!And monkeys!
If you know us at all, you know that there is one part of the zoo that is by far the best: the elephants! This was a very sad day visiting them. One of our favorite ladies in the herd has lost one of her tusks. Truly devastating to a certain member of our family. We did, of course, get the whole story from the keepers, but still very, very sad news. Karina decided that she can't wait until she loses her first tooth...so she can go back and have something in common with her best friend and understand her sadness! So sweet! (FYI- Watoto caused her own tooth loss.)

Skating!

2010-10-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

Our school puts on a skate night once a month at a local skating rink. Definitely a highlight for our girls! Here are a few pictures from the last one.

Swimming!

2010-10-26T20:17:00.000-07:00

We just recently started taking swimming lessons at a new place with a new coach. The water is warm and at the time we go, our girls are the only ones there. They are loving it for the most part. Karina still hates to put her face in, but we are working on it...day by day. Both girls are trying hard to earn a pet fish right now. Jadyn has to be able to swim 2 lengths of the pool with no stops and Karina has to be able to jump in completely unassisted. We'll see who gets there first and gets to keep their new pet in their room. Exciting stuff to look forward to!

Did you notice that is really is possible to jump into the water and look like a princess at the same time?

Happy 8th Birthday Jadyn

2010-10-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

It's official. We're old. How do we know this? Our oldest girl has turned 8 years old. We're late... it did happen about 2 weeks ago. But here she is, looking so grown up.

Just 8 short years ago she looked like this: (I think the bear must have shrunk when I washed it)

It was so fun to celebrate her 8th year. Gramda (Julie's mom) came over from Montana to celebrate with us as did Mark's parents. As Foree family tradition dictates, Jadyn got to pick her birthday meal, which was homemade spaghetti and meatballs. Her one quarter Italian was speaking loudly. We had a great evening celebrating together and topped it off with chocolate cake with chocolate icing. That part must come from Dad. Thanks to everyone for coming over to celebrate with us!

A few days earlier we took Gramda to the Black Diamond Bakery for dinner. The food was generously portioned and delicious as always.

For her party with friends, Jadyn decided she wanted to go to the pumpkin patch. This is the first year we've had a party out somewhere other than our house, so it was very exciting. And when you have an October birthday, what better place is there to hold a party than the pumpkin patch, right?

We went down to the Thomasson Family Farm in Enumclaw and had a great time. Jadyn had eight of her friends come and they had the run of the farm for 2 hours of laughing, running, playing, and giggling.

There was a giant play area with hay bales, slides, and tunnels, another giant play area full of corn kernals (which was actually pretty cool, kind of like a ball-pit at Ikea, but corn), animals to pet and see, a corn maze (which we skipped - we wanted to make sure we still had 8 girls to give back to parents when we were all done), and another area with all sorts of fun farm toys to play with. The kids had a great time, and most of all Jadyn loved it.

Another Karina moment

2010-08-12T15:22:00.001-07:00

We're in Sacramento now. Visiting Julie's family. Everyone's having a great time.

One of the fun things to do when we come down is to go for a ride in Grandpa's 1926 Chevy. It's beautiful. He spent many years rebuilding and refinishing it, and now maintains it in pristine condition. But he loves to take people for a ride, too, which is perfect!

And our Karina moment...

While we were sitting inside getting ready to head out on our adventure in the old car, Grandpa and Karina and I (Daddy) were talking about getting ready. It's about 90 degrees and sunny here right now.

Daddy: Let's put some sunscreen on you guys and we'll head out on our trip.

Grandpa: Karina, do you want me to put the top up on the old car so the sun's not shining down on top of you? (It's a convertible)

Karina: No, that's okay. I'm not really going to be looking up much.

A fun trip to see Daddy...

2010-06-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

They got to take a ride!

Karina is ready to sign up to be a fire fighter!

Kenzie is still deciding...Out of everything to do, all the kids liked pretending with the garden hose

the best...go figure!
Here's Karina running with the hose to put the fire out!!
Makenzie was watching from a safe distance inside.

Thankful for the rain

2010-06-17T21:37:00.001-07:00

Karina: "Wow, God really loves me! He made another

elephant colored day just for me!"

(I wish I was that excited about the gray clouds outside...)

2010-06-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

I think everyone needs a movie day with your best friends!

Just a girl and her baby...

2010-06-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

Kenzie is the only one we have that likes to play with dolls.

She wants to bring her everywhere!

Sister love!

2010-06-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

On the wall...

2010-06-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

Translation: "I love elephants and Russ. There are 3 at the zoo. I am 5. By Karina."

Not too bad for someone who doesn't really know how to read yet. :o)

Karina-isms

2010-05-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

A few of the latest...

Yesterday, after dinner, I made some chocolate chip cookies for the girls for dessert. I know... what a good Daddy I am. The girls were finishing watching Bambi, and Karina was torn between her desire to finish the movie and her desire to help cook. She chose the movie, but still wanting to be a part of the cooking process, kept asking what I was doing every step of the way.

When the first batch finally came out of the oven, she ran in to check them out, putting her head right next to the pan to see them up close. Not wanting her to accidentally burn herself on the pan, the good Daddy in me said, "Karina - be careful. The pan is still very hot."

Her reply, in an endearing, mesmerized voice, "I know. But they're not too hot to smell!"

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Later that night, after she finished getting ready for bed and came down to say goodnight, she walked into the kitchen with me, looked around, and said, "I just like being in this room, because this is where all the cooking happens."

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4 was a good year...

2010-04-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Karina turns 5 tomorrow. She has been preparing herself for the transition for a while now, but I think it really hit home as we were planning her party this week.

Every day, several times a day, Karina has been announcing that this is her last everything of being 4. Her last Monday, last day of school, last day at church, last time coloring, last time eating breakfast for dinner, last time looking out the window, last time flossing, last time organizing her elephants, last time drinking from the orange cup.....you get the idea. It has been really funny to hear her almost mourn a little bit everyday.

Along with that, here are a couple of other things words of wisdom that we have heard this week from our almost 5 year old:

"Being 4 has been hard work. 5 just has to be easier!"

"Mommy, can you make more of the foods that I don't like this week? I only want to have to take 4 bites of them instead of 5! (We have a rule of taking the number of bites of things that you are years old.)

"Will my clothes still fit me when I turn 5?"

"You know... 4 has been okay and fun, but I am definitely ready for 5!"

And my favorite so far...
"Do you think that people will still know who I am when I turn 5? I worry about that. What if I don't look the same anymore?"

I can't wait to hear what her first words are going to be tomorrow morning when reality is here and she is officially 5!

Another Zoo Visit

2010-04-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

In late March, we took the kids to the zoo again. It's definitely been a favorite place of ours this last year. We splurged for an annual membership and it's definitely paid off. All three girls love going.

Jadyn enjoys so many of the animals. This visit she again got to feed the birds. It's pretty cool - they have an enclosed bird house, and you walk in and get a popsicle stick with some bird feed on the end. The birds are so used to people that you can then walk around and hold it near a bird, and the bird will come stand on either the stick or your hand and eat the food.

Karina always wants to see "her" elephants. Every day, usually around 2, they have their elephant keeper's talk. So we usually try to plan our trip to make sure we're over there at that time. This time, we even got a picture of Karina with Russ, one of her favorite elephant keepers. The other picture of Karina is so cute - she was gazing at her favorite elephant, Chai, with this total look of adoration.

I don't know if Makenzie has a favorite yet. We keep asking her, but she must be holding back her opinion, because she never tells us. She lights up at any animal she sees - especially the colorful ones and the ones that move around a bunch. She points and smiles really big, so we're assuming she likes them all.

This time we also put the kids in a cool climbing tree in the zoo and snapped several pictures. This one of Karina and Jadyn turned out so cute. The other one, posted on the previous post, is our favorite of the three girls.

Adorable Photo

2010-04-01T16:31:00.000-07:00

Even better the second time around

2010-03-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

Karina has been working hard for a couple of weeks now on her newest creation. These are toys that I loved to play with when I was growing up. They have proven to be just as fun -if not even better for my girls!

Of course, she decided to make her very own elephant barn!

The barn complete with steps and a banner around the door

and my favorite part of all: The Elephant!A big thank you to Gramda for letting us borrow them from her for a little while!!

Miracles happen everyday...

2010-03-30T15:22:00.000-07:00

We just had to capture this amazing rare moment so that we could remind

ourselves that it is possible...

Long Jump Practice

2010-03-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

We had some fun at the neighborhood high school track the other day. Jadyn, Makenzie, and Daddy all went for a walk, and Jadyn spent some time working on her long jump...

Her proud sister waiting for the big moment...

The audience waited with great anticipation...

On your marks, get set, go!

Picking up speed...

3, 2, 1... blastoff!

Higher and higher she soared...

Look at that form!

And down she came, so smooth!

It was a picture-perfect landing. Great job, Jadyn!

Ezer-Mizer

2010-03-29T15:41:00.000-07:00

Karina has eczema, skin that easily rashes out and becomes dry. A gift she received from me, her Dad. We both love it - skin that dries to the point of cracking, bleeding, and becoming very painful. (Do you notice the sarcasm in that sentence...)

At school, her teachers wait by the door to the classroom and have the kids use some hand sanitizer. A great thing to help prevent kids from bringing junk into the classroom. But unfortunately, it also aggrivates her eczema. So we've told Karina and her teachers that we don't want her using that - but that instead she would wash her hands with soap and water as she goes in to her classroom.

So... last week Karina shows up at class. Her teacher momentarily forgets that Karina can't use the hand sanitizer and goes to squirt some on her hand as she walks in. Karina pulls her hand away, and very seriously says, "No! I can't use that. I have Ezer-Mizer!"

Backstage Pass to the Zoo!!!

2010-03-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo again last month. It had been a while, and Karina was missing her elephants. Every time we go, we always find a way to go see the elephant keeper's talk - it's Karina's favorite by far, and even though they say roughly the same things each time, she just loves it.

Over time, we've come to know Russ, one of the elephant keepers who has worked there for almost 20 years. He's usually the one doing the talks, and Karina always talks to him during or after the talk.

On this particular visit, he spotted us as we waited for the talks to begin. Today's talk was going to be at the elephant barn, and as we stood there, Russ suddenly appeared behind us. As we said hi, he told us there were still a few minutes before the talk was to start, and asked if we'd like to come around back and go in to the staff entrance to the elephant barn with the zoo keepers!

Of course we said 'yes'! He took us past the roped off area, and we headed around back into the barn. He showed us the office, where he and the other 4 elephant keepers work behind the scenes. Hanging up on the wall were 3 different cards Karina has made over the last year and mailed in to Russ! We also got to see some art that Chai, one of the elephants, had just finished painting. The art is going to one of the supporting agencies that help provide for the elephants.

We then got to walk out into the actual barn and watch as they let in the elephants for the talk. Russ stayed with us for a bit, and then asked if we'd like to stay there while he went out and around the front to give the talk to the crowds that had gathered. So we got to stay with Joanna, another elephant keeper, and watch the talk from inside the barn! It was so cool!

Karina's eyes were lit up the entire time, and Jadyn and Makenzie were loving it, too. We were so close to the elephant that we had to stand behind a blue line drawn on the ground to make sure they could not reach out and touch us. We were within 10 feet of the elephants, and got to watch them eat, walk over and sniff us, talk to them, and so much more.

Afterwards, Russ came back around and gave the girls some carrots to feed to the elephants by hand. There was another part of the fence that the elephants could not reach through, so the girls were able to stick their carrots through the holes in the fence to the elephants.

We then went back into the office, and Joanna showed us different things about the elephants. We got to hold some hair from the elephants tails, hold pieces of tusks that had broken off, and see and feel so many other things. They even gave us a video all about Hansa, the baby elephant that lived at the zoo for about 6 years before she died.

It was such a neat experience, and so special to be remembered. As Russ introduced us to Pat and Joanna, he said, "these are some of the members of the elephant fan club, and this one, Karina, is the president of the club." We laughed at that, but it was so neat to be recognized and invited to experience such a priviledged moment with the keepers and elephants. The other keepers even said that each time we had been there recently, Russ had seen us and then ran to get the other keepers after his talks, excitedly saying, "they're here! The family that loves the elephants so much and keeps sending all the cards. You have to come see!" But by the time they would get there, we were gone.

All in all we spend about an hour in the barn with the keepers - something we've never seen anyone do before. It made Karina's year.

Elephant Trunks

2010-03-08T21:50:00.000-08:00

Wow. It's been over a month since we've posted anything - yikes! We'll try to add more soon - we've had a busy last 6 weeks. Disneyland, a musical that Jadyn was in at church for two busy weekends, ballet lessons, school projects and homework, a two-week long cold working its way through our house, a special behind-the-scenes tour with the elephant keepers at the zoo, etc. Too many to list tonight, but we'll try hard to add the stories here soon.

But for now, one humorous anecdote from yesterday...

Julie and Karina were sharing some cheetos at lunch. It had been a while since we'd had cheetos in the house, so Julie asked Karina if her cheetos were good.

Karina held up a cheeto in front of her and then replied with a smile, "this is not just a cheeto! It's an elephant trunk!"

I can honestly say I have never looked at a cheeto that way before, but now I don't think I'll ever be able to look at one again without laughing. Leave it up to our little elephant lover to find the elephant in everything around her.

Happy Birthday Makenzie!

2010-01-29T21:10:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of our big little girl:Presents, presents, presents!

The beautiful cake made by Daddy

And her very own banana cupcake!

She ate the entire thing-even the crumbs!

Loving Winnie-the-Pooh.

Makenzie and Pooh Bear have matching tummies!

Too much snacking?

The year has gone by so fast! It is hard to believe that our baby girl is already one!

We are so proud of our beautiful princess. She continues to amaze us everyday with her constant joy and love for everything!

Measurements... Literally, that is

2010-01-07T19:54:00.000-08:00

I was on the way home from the hardware store with Karina tonight. We had just purchased the last piece of wood we'll need for the entryway bench I've been making.

As we drove towards home, Karina had her hand up on the 8-foot long piece of pine diagonally straddling the tops of the seats and sticking out the window of my small four-door sedan. Yeah, I probably should have taken the other car, or at least waited to buy the wood, but that would mean another trip...

As she looked up at the wood, feeling smug in her important, self-appointed role as "wood-holder," she began asking questions as to the fate of this piece of lumber.

"Daddy, where is this piece of wood going to go?" she asked.

"On the bottom of the bench," I replied, "to help hold up the bottom shelf."

Her questions continued. "How long are you going to cut this one?"

"67-5/8" I answered, thinking my answer would be fairly irrelevant to her, just a number without meaning.

She thought about it for a few seconds, and then my future creative engineer explained it to me. "That means 67, and then 8, 8, 8, 8, and 8. That's 67 and five 8's."

Our girls...

2010-01-01T22:06:00.000-08:00

Sorry. It has been a while since we filled your brain with the quotes we hear so often around our house. Here are a few of our favorites that should have made the blog weeks ago. Life is a bit busy, but still as funny and random as ever! Enjoy...

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We had just dropped off our good friend Brandy at the airport for her flight back to Idaho. As usual, when we got home, I reminded the girls to make sure they got everything out of the car that they brought with them. Karina in her most sad and accusing voice: "I can't...you left her at the airport."

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Karina before bed: "I am so glad you love me even when I make frustrating choices!"

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Jadyn: "My nose is stuffed up enough that if you listen when I breathe, it sounds like snoring. I didn't know I could make that sound."

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"Can you put on that one song where they sing octagona?" Jadyn meaning acapella.

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"Art is when you make something and you don't know what it is. An artist is someone who does art and likes it." Karina's response when asked to tell me what those two words meant.

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Karina: "God is so good to make the best elephant color of all the colors! I would have just made them pink I think."

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"Does this mean that you can't get a papercut from this paper? That is the safest paper; we should have more of that kind!" Jadyn as she was looking at a bag of tissue paper labeled non-bleeding.

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Deep car conversation between Jadyn and Karina: "Why do they call it football? In basketball there is a basket that you throw in. Soccer you have to wear soccer socks to play and in baseball you have those bases to play on. Football doesn't work, you don't use your foot."

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"Help Mommy! My car is stuck in Molly!!! Help! It is really in her!" Karina when she realized that her new remote control car was all twisted up in Molly's tummy fur. I was very relieved to see Molly hadn't eaten it.

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Jadyn: "No! Makenzie told me that she wanted me to have her toy first. You just weren't here to hear it, and now she doesn't want to talk about it anymore."

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Karina: "When I get my own pet elephant, I won't have to worry about anything anymore. She will help me with everything I want her to."

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Karina: "I want to play Bingo with Grandpa again. When I win with him, I get dollars. I got a scooter even. I only get M&M's with you."

Downtown Seattle

2009-12-31T12:24:00.001-08:00

We enjoyed New Year's Eve, Eve, in Downtown Seattle. We rode the light-rail train in to town, which is always a great adventure for the girls. Then we took the monorail the final mile from Westlake Center to the Space Needle. We spent some time freezing outside at the top of the windy Space Needle, looking through the telescopes and seeing all the exciting sights.

After that, we went inside where it was warmer and ate our picnic lunches together with the best view in Seattle - the top of the Needle! After that, we rode the elevator back down and headed back to Westlake Center. We strolled around, enjoyed all the holiday sights, and even rode the Carousel.

Then we headed to Mark's Dad's work to see him on his last official day of work. He's retiring after almost 40 years with the phone company. Congrats Dad!

We had a great time. What a perfect way to spend a day!

Photoshop Fun...

2009-12-09T21:43:00.000-08:00

Vote on your favorite... #1, #2, or #3

and by the way, no color was added - those are her actual eye color

as picked up by the camera without a flash

Look what I can do!

2009-12-06T21:16:00.000-08:00

Her best feature highlighted

2009-11-13T20:14:00.000-08:00

Wait a minute... who's for dinner?

2009-11-13T20:12:00.000-08:00

Veteran's Day at the Zoo

2009-11-13T15:44:00.000-08:00

The girls had no school on Wednesday, so we took off, ate breakfast in Bellevue with Grammy, and then headed down to the zoo. Apparently we weren't the only ones with the idea, since it seems every other school district was also out of school and all the kids were there with us. But even as crowded as it was, we had a great time.

It's been great to use our annual membership - it was so very worth the cost! We've been lots of times since the summer, and our girls are still just as excited each time as they were the first. Karina even drew a picture for Russ, the elephant keeper. She's now decided she still wants to be a firefighter when she grows up, but on her off-days she wants to work part-time as an elephant keeper with Russ. He was very excited, and promised to hang the picture up in his office.

Pumpkin Patch - UPDATED

2009-11-12T23:21:00.000-08:00

We had a great time a the best pumpkin patch in the world. So many fun things for the kids to do - we'll post more pictures on our family blog shortly... or at least we'll try (when it's not 11:30pm)

http://picasaweb.google.com/MForee/PumpkinPatchHalloween#slideshow/5403736316149976594

Fun at work

2009-10-26T16:29:00.000-07:00

We had a film crew come to our firehouse a few months back. They took some film footage of us and the station, and then put together a pretty good kids video called, "Why are Fire Trucks Red?"

I was checking out their website, and they actually posted a few of the clips online. If you check this one out, you can see me "putting out a fire" (well, a cartoon fire...). I'm the firefighter holding the front section of the hose line, or the nozzle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiCTg15r9Mc&feature=related

Jadyn turned 7!!!

2009-10-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

Our Jadyn turned seven years old on the 11th of October. It's amazing how fast time goes by - I can't believe we already have a seven year-old!

We celebrated with our families the night before her birthday. Gramda even made a surprise trip over from Montana just to celebrate with Jadyn! Our kids always get to choose their favorite dinner meal to eat for their family party. Jadyn chose a new meatball recipe that we have and absolutely love as well as sauce and spaghetti with bread. We had a great time with family as we celebrated and then dove into some chocolate cake.

Then, on her actual birthday, we had a princess, Angelina Balerina party with several friends. The girls (and one boy) dressed up like princessses (or a prince for the boy), played pin the bow on Angelina, made Angelina coloring books, learned a few ballet steps from our good friend Anna, played a bunch of games, and had fun eating some more yummy chocolate cake.

Here are just a few pictures - more will be posted soon on our family photo page.

Mommy and baby

2009-10-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

Jadyn's first day of school

2009-10-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

This was Jadyn's first day of school in late September. They were delayed by 2 weeks by a teachers' strike. Once that was resolved, she was so excited to finally be able to start 1st grade - and to have it be all-day school!

Jadyn with her teacher, Mrs. Bond.

Makenzie's 8 month photo

2009-10-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

We're a little behind on the posting.... so here's Makenzie's photo from September 29th. 8 months old~

You lookin' at me?

2009-09-28T21:19:00.000-07:00

Really? For dessert?

2009-09-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

Karina: "Daddy, can I have dessert now?"

Daddy: "After you finish your milk."

Karina: "Actually, I'm saving my milk, because I'm going to have a hash brown and dip it in my milk."

Daddy: "Really? You want a hash brown?"

Karina: "Yes!"

Mommy: "Oh wait... do you mean a Snickerdoodle?"

Karina: "Yeah. That's it. I forgot the name."

Ever felt like your kid asks a lot of questions?

2009-09-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

Karina is our question-asker. Julie thought it would be interesting to see just how many questions she asks in an average day. She couldn't get them all, but here's the list of many from just yesterday (and keep in mind I was at work all day/night, so she wrote these down with 3 kids, alone):

Can babies play soccer?
Can I see what that's doing?
What is that a picture of?
Can I try to make it work?
What is a question?
Can I write it down please?
What do you mean, Bayder? (a made-up name)
What do you think, Bayder?
Can you wear yellow?
Which batch do I put yellow in?
Why did you say that?
Can I have Green? (her elephant)
Are you really holding her, Jadyn?
Do you want to go camping?
Is it all clean?
Do you know dottie-loo?
Did you know dottie-loo means catch up to me?
Let's park the strollers... see the good parking spots on the left?
Mom, look... I am swinging my elephants so carefully... aren't they cute?
Is she going to sleep in her bed?
Can you snap it?
May you please make a waffle for me?
Eight pieces?
Do I have a shiny one? (hair clip)
How does Wicket drink that?
Did you eat your binky?
Is it time to go?
Can I have strawberry twist gum?
Can I have gum even if I don't like it?
Can you put it on 13? (the CD)
Who can pick up a car?
Are we on the freeway?
Why are there no lights or stop signs?
How do you spell SuperMall?
Where are we going to?
Do you remember one time we went with Daddy and Daddy didn't buy anything?
Are you my Mommy? (to Makenzie, spoken as the toy)
Can you turn the music up?
Did you see me climb the tree?
How old do I have to be to be a Russ elephant talker? (Russ is the elephant keeper at the zoo)
Did you hear what I just said?
Was it funny or punny?
Can we go to the zoo everyday or every morning?
Are we going to Red Robin?
What are we driving by Red Robin?
Where are we going?
Can you put on Mary Poppins?
Can you skip #1?
Why do blinkers blink?
Did you know that Chai had a baby? (Chai is an elephant at the zoo)
Did Bamboo have a baby that died, too?) (Another elephant at the zoo)
Guess what? I'm a mommy elephant that had a baby just now! How cute am I for doing that?
Can we leave this song on until it ends?
Can anybody reach the sky?
How old is God?
Is Grandpa or Grammy older than God? (sorry Grammy and Grandpa!)
Why did you make that face? (to Jadyn)
Where are you, Mom? (asked in the car)
Can I try one more time?
Can I please have it?
Is she sucking on it? (about Makenzie)
Why does Makenzie always want my elephant blanket to suck on?
Can you tell I'm camping today because I have my blanket?
Why did you say, "Molly, no!"?
Why did God make Molly such a cute troubler sometimes?
What kind of animal is this?
What does a-ba-ba mean?
What does it mean in cat? (language)
Do slugs have tongues?
Can you please come fast here?
Can Makenzie throw me another hug and kiss?
Did she catch them? Does she need more?
Can you put Simon's cat song on? (actually the siamese cat song)
Can I have a snack?
Can I have juice or maybe a full glass of milk with the snack I want?
What happens when cats get dogs in trouble?
Do you remember when Roo's mom caught her in her pocket? (Winnie-the-Pooh)
Can I be done and get to eat my milkshake so it doesn't go bad like Daddy said it would?
Why did we get rid of the Mazda?
How do ducks dance?
Does Molly like to be locked in her fort? (as she is building a fort around her)
Can I just sleep in my clothes I have on?
Can I sleep in my soccer clothes so I don't have to get dressed in the morning?
Are you tucking me in?
How did you learn to tuck me in?
Is Daddy getting tucked in at the fire station right now?
Does God need 4 hugs a day, too?
How does he get them?
Can you give Makenzie this extra hug and kiss?

Karina's First Day of School

2009-09-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

Karina started Pre-K today. It was very exciting. But if you tell her she's in pre-k, she'll correct you and tell you she's in pre-kindergarten, not pre-k. She had a great time, and is very excited about her class!

Not exactly right...

2009-09-07T11:12:00.001-07:00

Jadyn: "Daddy, could you put the CD on that has the song, 'tastes like rain falls down on me'?"

(Reality - Grace Like Rain - by Todd Agnew)

Blueberry Farm picking

2009-09-04T14:13:00.001-07:00

Flower Girls

2009-09-02T13:56:00.001-07:00

Through the eyes of a girl...

2009-09-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

Reading really opens up the world around you.

Jadyn was eating her yogurt the other day and looked down at the advertising on the packaging. It read, "Trick your wheels," with some sort of skate board logo on it.

So she asks, "Daddy, why does it say to trick your wheels?"

I reply with an explanation, "When they say 'trick' like that, they're really saying to make something fancy. In this case, they're saying to make your wheels fancy."

Through her eyes I can see the gears in her head turning as she contemplates this new concept. Then she replies excitedly, "You could put a dress on your wheels! And a crown! Then they would be fancy~"

Flower Girls

2009-08-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

Both Jadyn and Karina got to be a part of Lisa Fast & Jory Rhinehart's wedding today as flower girls. They did a great job walking down the aisle, leaving little flower petals in their wake, and drawing lots of smiles and "aaahhh's" from the gathered crowd.

Afterwards, we enjoyed dancing and reconnecting with friends at the reception. It was a beautiful wedding and a priviledge for our girls to be a part of the ceremony.

Wednesday at the Mariners Game

2009-08-15T22:21:00.000-07:00

This last week we took the girls to the Mariner's game. Everyone wore their Mariner's garb, and we cheered our team on.

The girls had a blast! We got Mariner's hot dogs and sodas (part of the family deal!) and ate lots of popcorn and peanuts. I even bought a small package of cracker jacks to bring - the kids know the "Take me out to the ballgame" song well, but they didn't know what cracker jacks were. Unfortunately, they weren't a hit. Here's the face Jadyn made when she tried them:

During the middle inning breaks, they would show different fans up on the big screen. I told the girls that if they danced hard enough, they might make it onto the screen. So every break, our girls jumped up and showed off their moves. They never did make it onto the TV, but they had a blast trying.

We left at the end of the 8th when the score was still 0-0, and in the bottom of the 14th, our Mariner's finally squeezed in the winning run and won the game 1-0. Way to go, Mariners!

Camping Again

2009-08-03T22:11:00.000-07:00

We were able to sneak away again this last weekend with the extended family and had a great time camping at Lake Easton State Park. We had temperature extremes - about 95 degrees outside (with no real breeze) and lake water temperature in the 40's from snow melt. We ate s'mores, enjoyed many laughs, adventured in the woods, and relished the time with family.

Check out our family photo page for more pictures!

Lost another tooth

2009-08-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

Now she's officially lost both top front teeth. It was pretty exciting, too, as she lost her tooth on the first day of our camping trip. We put it in a bag and brought it home for the tooth fairy.

Now, how are you supposed to take a bite of a big hamburger with no front teeth?

Lots of cheer...

2009-07-20T20:17:00.000-07:00

Meet Nick and Lydia. Two amazing people that have captured the hearts of our two oldest girls. As you can see, they both used to do cheer before they had their own 2 kids -and can somehow still do it well. Lydia helped lead the cheer part of our "Mega Sports Camp" at our church last week. This picture was taken at the block party last Friday night. (And yes, he is holding her up with just one hand!)
It was so cute to come downstairs tonight to hear cheering and singing from Jadyn and Karina in the living room. They were pretending to be Nick and Lydia. Jadyn, of course, had to be Nick because she was the only one that could lift Lydia up safely so that she wouldn't be scared.

I wish these pictures could bring you all of the emotion and concentration that I got to witness. It was amazing! (Especially seeing Karina willing to jump into Jadyn's waiting arms!)

I love that our girls are best friends. I also love that they can't wait for little Makenzie to get big enough to join in the fun. They even changed some of the cheers to be just for her! A big thank you to Nick and Lydia for being so willing to share yourselves with our girls!

Light-Rail Trip to Downtown Seattle

2009-07-18T17:22:00.001-07:00

Today was the opening day of the new light-rail transit system from the airport to downtown Seattle. To let people enjoy and experience it, today and tomorrow the trains are/were free. So we headed down to Tukwila, right next to SeaTac airport, and spent the day riding the train and hanging out in downtown Seattle. Here we are waiting in line to get on the train.

The girls were so excited as we waited for the train. The line was long, but trains came every seven minutes, so we didn't have to wait long at all. The ride was smooth, packed full of riders, and very exciting for our little ones. Here they are waiting for the train to leave the station.

Once we got to Seattle, we walked around and enjoyed the scenery and people downtown. We even found a cool waterfall sculpture where you can walk through the middle of the waterfall without getting too wet. Jadyn and I had a blast. Karina didn't think it looked like fun, so she just watched us and cheered us on.

After that, we headed into Westlake Mall and ate lunch at the food court, watching the monorail trains come by just on the other side of the glass windows from where we sat. It was a great day. We grabbed a cookie for dessert from Mrs Fields, and then headed back underground into the tunnels to catch the train back home.

It was a perfect, very fun and inexpensive day.

Check out more pictures on our family photo page~

Jadyn's funny comment

2009-07-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

We were in the car on the way home from VBS late last night. It's great having a 6 year-old when you have a baby. Jadyn is such a great helper - always mothering Makenzie as she sits next to her in the car. She has great instincts and is very patient with Makenzie, often leaning over to help her little sister out well before we ask.

So as we're driving home last night, we hear Makenzie fussing in the back, and the following conversation ensues:

Mommy: Jadyn, did Makenzie's binky fall out?

Jadyn: Yes.

Mommy: Can you put it back in for us?

Jadyn: Well.... she's playing a game with me right now where she spits her binky out, screams at me, and then I put it back in. But it's not a happy 'kind' of scream.

Getting Bigger Every Day

2009-07-09T08:55:00.001-07:00

The girls love to hold Makenzie and feed her.

She's getting so big that she's started eating rice cereal last week. Time flies by quickly~

Camping Fun

2009-07-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

We had a super-fun time on our camping trip this week. We spent 3 days, 2 nights at Ocean Shores, camping at the state park and enjoying lots of fun times. The weather was perfect: sun, wind (of course. It's the beach, right?), and warm days. The nights, on the other hand, were absolutely freezing, with temperatures dipping into the low 40's. But we bundled up and kept warm by the fire.

We also:

built sand castles

ran in the ocean and on the beach

flew our kite

got sun-burned

dug a giant hole in the sand for the girls to climb into

roasted marshmallows over the fire and made s'mores

the girls helped chop wood for kindling

fought off 2 large racoons that wanted to take over our camp one night

went for hikes

threw a baseball around

ate lots of salt-water taffy and even ice cream

got eaten by mosquitos

played games in the tent and at the picnic table

hiked to the bathroom at 2 in the morning for an emergency potty run (and we saw the most beautiful stars in the sky on the way back to our tent)

saw a snake near the beach

saw a beautiful butterfly and some dragonfllies

and tried our best to knock the waves over in the ocean.

Check out our family photo page for some more pictures~

http://picasaweb.google.com/MForee/OceanShoresCamping#

Mustache Month at work

2009-06-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

Can you guess which one is me? We're wearing vests made to fit over our bunker gear with air bottles on (for fires on the freeways), so they do a great job of making us look about 100 pounds heavier. Flattering, eh?

There is always an exception...

2009-06-23T22:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I got out some "new" shoes for Karina from our hand-me-down box. One is a pair of white sandals that have velcro closures on the front and back. We tried them all on and when it came time to try the sandals, I fit them to her foot and explained that when she puts them on, she will only have to undo the back velcro each time. The front can stay closed and she can just slip her feet in and out. No big deal really...unless you are Karina.

When we put shoes on this morning, she excitedly chose the new sandals. She clarified once more with me to make sure that it was okay to just use the back velcro, trying hard to understand why you would not want to undo the whole thing every time. I reassured her that it was the way to go to save time and keep things easy. She agreed reluctantly once again, but I could tell she wasn't believing that this was really the way to go.

As we were driving, I noticed she was unusually quiet, clearly deep in thought. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me and I had to know what she was thinking about so seriously.

She looked up at me in the mirror (almost in tears) as she said: "but Mommy, if my sandals were on fire, would it be okay to undo the front velcro? I wouldn't want my feet to burn up! That would be okay, right?"

So...when you see our Karina putting on her sandals the hard way every time...just go with it.

Kindergarten Graduation

2009-06-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

Jadyn's last day of school was officially today.

But last Friday she had her Kindergarten class graduation. The kids made graduation caps, dressed nice, and held a small ceremony in the cafeteria.

Her teacher, Mrs. Roddy, had the kids sing a few songs, recite lines together to a poem, and even made a really neat slideshow of the kids during the schoolyear.

Jadyn was so proud - and we're so proud of the great year she had!

Way to go, JJ!

It's always fun to be with Grammy!

2009-06-22T18:49:00.001-07:00

Thanks for coming over for the day, Grammy. We had so much fun!

Summer days in the sun

2009-06-14T00:33:00.000-07:00

There's something priceless about a sprinkler on a warm day~

How do you keep a straight face?

2009-06-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

Ever had those moments when you're trying to discipline your child, and they say just the right thing that makes you lose your composure? And, of course, once you lose it, there's really no going back. Along those lines, this happened today... (sorry - the lead-in is long, but it's worth it)

Karina is our surveyor. You know... the people who mark out property line boundaries. She's always testing the waters, seeing how far she can go, pushing the boundaries.

We've been dealing with the issue of 'sticking out your tongue' the last few weeks or so. Wherever she picked it up, she's decided that this is her new way of dealing with a frustrating situation. Always out of our sight, always towards her big sister. Very sneaky. (Can't wait until the teen years - yikes!)

Our methods of dealing with issues like this have to constantly change with Karina. One week, a certain form of discipline works. The next week, it does not. We began with time-outs and an apology this time, explaining why it was not okay to treat someone this way. But no result. We even tried a little soap - if your mouth is doing something dirty, maybe we need to clean it. Still no result. So Julie was talking to a friend last night who had another suggestion - something she had tried with one of her children.

So today when Karina again stuck her tongue out at Jadyn, we thought we would give it a try. I pulled her aside (after having her apologize) and brought a roll of blue painting tape with me - the kind that removes very easily from walls and coincidentally, skin. Sitting next to her, I began to explain to her that since she continued to use her mouth for something it was not meant to do, I was going to put a little piece of tape on her mouth and she was not going to be allowed to use it for a period of time.

I told her she would not be allowed to talk. At this point, her lower lip began to quiver; the thought of not talking is very tough for our little talker. "But, Daddy..." she began...

Now this was right as I had set out lunch, so I then told her that since she could not use her mouth, she would also not be allowed to eat.

This is where I lost it, because in the 2 seconds it took for that reality to sink in,
her eyes widened,
began to water,
and she held her arms straight out to the sides (like Jesus on the cross),
rolled her shoulders forward, and said with defeated desperation,
"But then I will die!"

Apparently she thought I meant 'forever.' I couldn't help it - I lost it, and began to laugh. I tried to catch myself, hoping to hold on to my intended seriousness of the moment, but it was so hard. "No you won't, Honey. It's only going to be for 5 minutes."

Julie was in the next room laughing, which really didn't help me keep it together, but we couldn't help ourselves. All I can say is... maybe we put a little of the fear of God into her and with luck we won't be having the same issue anymore.

She did survive, by the way. She had to sit at the bar in front of her lunch, next to her sister who was eating with a five-minute head start, and watch the whole time. But she ate her meal well after we took the tiny piece of tape off. But I think a little did sink in.

Ahh - the mind of a four-year-old~

Mustache Month

2009-06-12T19:43:00.001-07:00

The guys and I decided to try something different at work... we've decided June is Mustache Month. No reason in particular... just something different to do. Re-living how firemen of the past looked, I guess - they had no facepieces or air tanks to protect them from the noxious smoke, so they grew big, bushy mustaches to help them filter-breathe through the smoke. (True)

I was emptying the dishwasher at home while the girls were eating lunch the other day. While my back was to the girls, I suddenly began to hear those precious little giggles from behind me that told me something was up. I turned around, and my girls had their 'face-cleaning rags' rolled up and resting on their upper lips. "Look, Daddy," they said in unison, "we have mustaches, too."

My girls are so funny. Rather than try to explain why it is not quite the same when a lady has a mustache, I quickly grabbed the camera and we posed together. Ahh... another picture to pull out later in life and laugh about together~

(Unfortunately the cup in front of Karina blocks her a bit...)

More fun at the Parks

2009-06-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

More fun days at the park. The weather has been so nice for the last 3 weeks. We've spent as much free time as possible at neighborhood parks. You couldn't ask for a better way to kick off the summer.

A day at the Zoo

2009-06-06T20:47:00.000-07:00

We spent most of today at the Woodland Park Zoo. Grammy and Grandpa, Uncle Nick, Aunt Stephany, cousin Caelan, and our friend Anna all came along to join us. The kids (and the rest of us) had a great time. After a week of 90+ degree weather, today was a perfect cool 70 and overcast - perfect weather for the zoo.

http://picasaweb.google.com/MForee/WoodlandParkZooVisit#

Check out our family photo page for some pictures from our visit. Here's a small sample to wet your appetite:

Picnic at the Park

2009-06-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

We went to Lake Wilderness Park by our house for a picnic lunch last week. The girls had a great time, enjoyed their lunches, and spents lots of time playing after lunch.

Mommy and Makenzie cuddled on the blanket while Jadyn, Karina, and Daddy played an exhausting game of tag in the 90 degree weather. It was a perfect afternoon~

Big Blue Eyes

2009-06-06T08:16:00.001-07:00

What's that big, bright light? Our little angel is 4 months old and growing stronger every day.

A little Pun goes a long way

2009-06-01T19:21:00.001-07:00

Jadyn is sitting with Julie and Karina right now and going over her spelling/reading word lists for school. She came across the word 'pun'...

Jadyn: Mommy, what's a pun?
Daddy: A pun is a joke like Grandpa tells.
Jadyn: Which one?
Daddy: Here's an example - What did the cow say to the other cow when he wanted to sit down?
Jadyn: I don't know
Daddy: Mooooooooooove over!
Jadyn & Karina: laughing
Daddy: See - the 'pun' part is the Moooooo in move. The answer is 'move over', but it's a pun because you say 'Mooooooooove over.'
Karina: Yeah. It wouldn't be a pun if the cow said, 'Si-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-t down'.

I don't know if it translates as funny when you read it, but the way she didn't skip a beat and just blurted it out so matter-of-factly had us rolling on the floor. She's so funny and doesn't even try hard to be - we love it!

May Picnic

2009-05-31T21:55:00.000-07:00

It was another beautiful, warm day today. After church, the girls wanted to eat their lunches outside, so they sat at their table under the "sun" umbrella and enjoyed their chicken nuggets, cheese, crackers, and milk in their matching dresses.

I can hold my sister!

2009-05-28T22:05:00.000-07:00

What a proud big sister ~ And what big, blue eyes!

Swimming Again

2009-05-28T21:58:00.001-07:00

The girls started swimming lessons last night. Jadyn has had lessons several times, so she took to the water like a shark. She remembered all her tricks, floating very well, bobbing well, and working hard to swim like a pro. It's been a while (last summer) since we had lessons, so we put her in a more basic class to review, and she's doing great.

(don't worry... she's just floating)

Karina, on the other hand, has been very tentative in the water, and this was her first official lesson. Needless to say, we were a little aprehensive about how she would do, even to the point of resigning ourselves to paying for lessons and calling it a success even if she never really got in the water. But she surprised us both - getting in quickly, warminig up to her teacher well, and even letting her teacher pull her around the pool on her front and back.

Way to go, Karina and Jadyn!

Ever had these kinds of days?

2009-05-20T10:13:00.001-07:00

A mighty fortress

2009-05-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

The girls wanted to build a fort today. So we extended the chairs out from the dining room table, and then put a few blankets over both the table and the chairs to make a giant fort. After playing for a long time, the girls decided to work on their homework in the fort.

3 Months Old

2009-05-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

Here's our little Makenzie at 3 months old. She's actually a week older than this now, but this was last week's picture. She's such a cutie!

Spring Sunshine

2009-05-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

The girls spent some time chasing a bunny in the backyard. The sun was shining and the temperature was mild, so they chased after it in their Sunday dresses.

They were so cute - whispering to each other and slowly stalking through the yard like a lioness on the hunt. They had a camera, and they knew how to use it. Watch out, bunny!

The bunny was fast - they got close, but couldn't quite catch it. But we caught a few great pictures of the girls afterwards.

The Sweetest Sounds

2009-05-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

We captured a little video of Makenzie cooing and talking today.

A different Easter celebration

2009-04-29T17:29:00.000-07:00

It's already a few weeks past, but on Easter I had to work. So Julie and the girls came by to visit me at the firehouse along with my parents.

It's been a while since they've had a chance to come visit Daddy at work, and since we try to spend time together on Easter as a family day, we improvised.

The girls had a fun time looking at all the fire trucks and best of all... sliding down the poles.

Four Years Old!!!

2009-04-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated our Karina's 4th birthday. After a busy morning of soccer, we had a fun party this afternoon - lots of running around, playing outside, opening presents, and eating birthday cupcakes.

Happy Birthday, Karina!

Another girl moment...

2009-04-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Jadyn: "I know that God made us with fingers and arms and feet for good reasons, but why did he make fingernails?"

Karina: (without a second thought) "So we could paint them and polish them. I don't know why boys have them, though."

The best treasure

2009-04-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

We were eating dinner yesterday, having our usual interesting conversations, when I noticed that Jadyn was sitting very still all of a sudden with her hand over her chest. Of course, being a good worrying parent, I immediately asked if she was hurting or having a hard time breathing or anything of that nature. She just looked at me without saying a word, just a little smile forming on her lips.

I asked what in the world she was thinking about with such a strange face and her hand still on her chest.

Her reply: "I was just thinking how nice it is to have God with me where ever I go. I can remind myself anytime just by touching my heart- that is where God lives. When I have a hard time, like last night, I know that He is close to me and I am his best treasure. I like being a treasure--especially the best one."

Once again, I find myself being reminded of what is most important from my little girl. I love that God looks at us and sees us as his very best treasure. And how good it is to hear your daughter believing it with all her heart. :o)

What soldiers really do...

2009-04-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

The girls were marching around the house this morning singing a song I haven't heard in a long time. Karina definitely hasn't heard it in a long time either because this is what I heard the first time she sang it:

"I may never march in the infantry, ride in the color tree, shoot all the energy. I may never breathe on the eminy, but I'm in the Lord's Army...Yes sir!"

(For those not familiar with this song, it should be: "I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery. I may never fly over the enemy, but I'm in the Lord's Army...Yes sir!")

Jadyn was very quick to correct her before they sang it over again and again about 10 times. I think I like Karina's version...

The difference one letter can make...

2009-04-03T08:57:00.000-07:00

Jadyn worried me the other night, then cracked me up.

Jadyn and I were talking about the kids who sit at her table in Kindergarten. There is a set of identical twin girls in her class, and she mentioned that one of them sits next to her. I asked if she had any trouble telling her apart from her sister, and this is where the funny conversation went from there:

Jadyn: "No. It's easy."
Daddy: "Oh? How can you tell?"
Jadyn: "Nicole has mold on her lip and her sister doesn't."
Daddy: "What? What did you say?" (a little puzzled, intrigued, and worried...)
Jadyn: "She has mold on her lip. That's what my teacher said."
(Now I'm thinking... okay, why is the teacher saying mold... hmm...)
Daddy: "What does it look like?" (we'll try another approach...)
Jadyn: "Well... it's brown."

(Now I'm racking my brain, wondering, could this really be??

No, it has to be something else...)
Daddy: "Is it shaped like a circle?"
Jadyn: "Yeah."
Daddy: "Is it on her face above her lip?"
Jadyn: "Yeah."
Daddy: "Okay. Does she have a mole?"
Jadyn: "Oh. Is that what it is? I thought my teacher said mold. What's a mole?"

I went on to explain - showing her moles on my arms and hers. Whew! And I was getting a little worried that her teacher was giving the kids pet names and picking on them.~

They got shot 8 times!

2009-03-31T20:43:00.001-07:00

Karina and Makenzie had their regular doctor checkups today - Karina (turning 4 next month) and Makenzie's 2-month old checkup.

Karina is looking great! She weighed in at 37 pounds, measured 40-3/4 inches tall, and most amazine of all... she got 3 shots and didn't even cry! We were so proud of her braveness and toughness.

We do have one little concern for Karina - her knees have been swelling some the last few weeks - especially her left one. We noticed it first after one of her soccer games, and she's been hinting at some discomfort when she kneels and crouches. The doctor agreed, and we'll be taking her in for x-rays this week to see if something more is going on there. More to follow as we find it out...

Makenzie was amazing as well. She weighed in at 10 lbs, 11 ozs and measured 23 inches long/tall. She's gained 2 lbs, 3-1/2 ozs in the last month. Her heart, lungs, and belly all sounded great. She got 5 shots, which wasn't fun for her (or us), but calmed down quickly afterwards with the love of her two older sisters, Mom, and Dad.

Our only concern for her has been a worry of allergies. We've noticed that if she sleeps on her back for a few hours or more, she wakes up very congested, sometimes even wheezy. The doctor noticed some inflamation and redness in her nose, which seems to support that possibility. But it's pretty rare for kids to have allergy issues like this before two years of age, so our doctor was a little perplesed. She going to consult with an ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor, and we'll probably end up taking Makenzie in for some further examinations.

But all in all, the kids are healthy, happy, and on-track for where they're at. The highlight for the older sisters was helping Doctor Marty listen to Makenzie's heart. How fun!

Teddy Bear Pictures

2009-03-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

Here's Makenzie's most recent "Barnabas" picture (name of the teddy bear) compared to her first. A little change in posture and two different camers, so the color is a little varied. But she's definitely growing. This was 7 weeks-old.

More Soccer Photos

2009-03-23T20:03:00.001-07:00

Spring Soccer 2009

Click on the picture for a link to a few more photos

And the answer is...

2009-03-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

Amazing how much they are looking alike these days. Still different, but lots of similarities~

Soccer Season Again

2009-03-21T18:01:00.001-07:00

Both girls have started soccer and had their first games today. The weather was great - cool, overcast, and no rain or snow. Last spring we had snow/hail/rain for every game, so this was a great way to kick off the season. Started today with team pictures, then got into the games.

Jadyn and Karina both had a great time - Jadyn's team lost a close one, but Karina's team won by a landslide. I'm co-coaching Karina's team, so it's been both fun and extremely busy. We arrived at the fields around 11:30 and didn't make it home until after 4:00.

Warming up before the big game

Guarding the goal (in the background)

Breaking out on the kick-off (anyone else paying attention?)

Taking a big kick

Catch me if you can (notice her whole team is clumped together)

Going for the goal

Dentist Visit

2009-03-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

Jadyn and Karina had their dental checkups today. Both did great - no cavities, great brushing report from the dentist. And best of all - they got their pictures taken and get to be the first kids up on the "No Cavities" wall that the dentist is going to make!

They also got a toy and flower - both picked bubbles. Great job, girls!

Cat for rent...cheap!

2009-03-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

Our beloved Molly Twinkles is almost on her last life at our house this week. I came home from dropping Jadyn off at school to find the almost new, big bag of Costco rice we had in our pantry shredded and all over the floor.
When you add that to the other very "Molly" things we have come across recently:

-3 stolen Makenzie socks found stashed in a hiding spot
-2 plants that have been used as her personal snack supply
-One stuffed monkey whose tail will never be the same
-One cube of butter which is now only about 1/4" high
-Several blankets and clothing items of Makenzie's that have to be rewashed because they are covered with cat fur
-The J shaped tattoo that she carved into Jadyn's arm with her teeth

You can see why we are ready to rent her out...
Any takers???? She comes with an attitude and lot of very soft fur to cuddle with! (We would just need a few visitation rights for Jadyn.) :o)

Can you name this child??

2009-03-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

Can you tell which one of our girls this is? I will give you a hint...it is not Makenzie!

More Pictures

2009-03-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

Yeah! We finally got our new camera.

Costco waited two weeks to tell us they were out of stock and would not be able to fill our order, so we ended up having to purchase elsewhere. But we're very happy to be able to take good quality pictures again!

Here are a few quick samples. We haven't had much time to play with the camera yet, but we're beginning to experiment and excited to learn how to use it.

Steak & Sillies

2009-03-12T11:26:00.001-07:00

We found a great recipe for carne asada the other night. We've been longing for Mexico recently, fondly remembering our 10th Anniversary trip to La Paz. This recipe was pretty close to the streetside carne asada we fell in love with down there.

Our kids loved it, too, which was a nice bonus. While we were eating dinner, the kids and I had fun making silly faces at each other. We captured a few on film, though that's a whole diferent subject in itself...

Our camera petered out a few weeks ago. Not a good thing when you have a new little baby that you want to capture in lots of pictures. We ordered a new one through Costco, but they've been very disappointing so far - it's been almost two weeks and they haven't even shipped our order yet. Hopefully it will actually ship soon, and we can begin taking great pictures of our little ones again. Until then, we're using Jadyn's little camera.

Cupcakes

2009-03-09T20:08:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Jadyn went to a birthday party for her friend Sammy. Karina was feeling a little left out, so she and Daddy decided to make some cupcakes while they were staying home with Makenzie.

While we were waiting for them to bake, she started playing with Jadyn's camera. I asked her to take a picture of me holding Makezine. It only took four tries to get one with my face in the shot. She did great! And the cupcakes were delicious, too!

Then we did a few self-portraits. It was a great afternoon!

First tooth in, first tooth out... finally!

2009-03-09T20:01:00.000-07:00

Jadyn lost her first tooth tonight! It was a big big-girl moment. It has been loose for a very long time, and last week finally got to the point where it was hanging on by only one corner.

I've been encouraging her to twist, pull, etc and try to pry it out, and she's been pretty adventureous about it. But tonight she wanted to let me try to pull it out, so I gave it a little push and it came right out.

She's very excited, and now she has it upstairs next to her bed in a special tooth-fairy tooth holder that her Aunt Marcella got for her. We'll see what happens tonight... hopefully the tooth fairy doesn't fall asleep with baby Makenzie and forget to swap out the tooth!

Look! It's Christmas!

2009-03-09T19:48:00.001-07:00

Karina woke up this morning and looked outside to find snow on the ground. "Look! It's Christmas!" she excitedly announced to the world.

Jadyn played around with her camera and took some neat pictures. I've been trying to work with her on taking pictures with purpose, not just pictures of "nothing", but trying to view things with perspective and working on forming a shot. I gave her the challenge of taking some close-ups of the snow on branches. She did a pretty good job:

We made the most of the rare March snow - we had our snowball fights, built a snowman, took lots of fun pictures, and loved every minute of it.

Reach down deep and pull one out of your memory bank...

2009-03-05T18:52:00.000-08:00

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... like a year ago, I used the Top Gun expression, "Negative Ghostwriter, the pattern is full," with my kids to say no to things. I probably did this for a few weeks or months, but literally haven't said it in a very, very long time. (You know... passing fads, etc.)

Tuesday this week, Julie and the girls are sitting at the dinner table (I'm at work) and Julie asks Karina if she had finished her dinner, to which Karina replies, "Negative." Now Karina has never really used this expression, so it caught Julie off-guard. "What was that?" she asked in curiosity. "I said 'negative'; that means I'm not done yet."

Since then she's continued using 'negative' as her way of saying no. Way to reach back and pull one out of your memory bank, Karina!

Daddy: "Would you like a banana for snack?" - Karina: "Negative."

Mommy: "Is it raining outside right now?" - Karina: "Negative."

Jadyn: "It's my turn to play with the race cars, Karina." - Karina: "Negative."