So, Dad. . .

It's been a little bit since I last posted. . .but nothing TOOO huge has happened (and there haven't really been any new pics of the kids). This past weekend we did go to the Children's Museum in Indy (GREAT place!!).

Here's a pic of Abby just hangin' with Daddy. This was in the special exhibit for Curious George, but she wasn't too fond of all the other kids in her way. She preferred sticking with Daddy. Caleb, on the other hand, didn't care how many other kids were running around him. . .he took off. This pic is one of the set ups they had (they were supposed to stack the blocks, then move the lights to show the different shadows). He didn't quite get it, but he thought it was fun to turn the wheel. :)
We also had to go up and play in the play areas (Caleb once again loved playing in the food area). We thought he looked like a little Culver's kid. . .he put on one of the aprons, and was carrying a tray with three bowls of ice cream. :) Just like his Pappy.

Well, Aunt Judy, this next pic is for you. This is what happens when the news media gets all hyped up about a winter storm. . .yeah, there's a dusting of snow (but those HUGE floods we had in the back. . .GREAT ice skating ponds!). Would you believe they delayed school for 2 hours!?!?!? Yeah, they did. We did end up getting more snow (FINALLY) late last week, but it's almost all gone already. We are coming to realize more and more that we don't live in the north anymore.

Here's a little pic of Abby from tonight. . .don't mind the funky-dunky hair. This is basically as good as it gets after a long day of playing with a decent nap in between. She is getting so big (maybe not size-wise) and I cannot believe how fast it's going. You'd think with her being number two that we'd be used to the quickness of turning into a toddler, but it's still flying by. She's saying a few words here and there, and she's very good about shaking her head "yes" or "no" when you ask her a question ("Abby, are you poopin'?" --nodding, yes with a big smile).
And li'l Caleb. . .wow. Who said the two's were terrible??? They must not have allowed their child to make it to three. The boy really knows how to test mommy and daddy. He's still a month or so away from three, and we are praying this is just the tail end of the terrible twos and it'll click and the halo will move into place. Maybe??? Ok, probably not, but one can hope. I'm sure he's no different than any other two-three year old. He is quite funny though. . .just last night he and I were at Wal-Mart and as I was paying for the groceries, I look over. . .there he is, sitting in the cart with his hands folded, and his head leaned back as he's looking into the ceiling. He says, "Thank you God for listening to my prayers." Not sure where it came from, but apparently he felt the urge to pray right then and there. It just sounded funny out of nowhere. OH, and speaking of prayers, Uncle Chris and Auntie Em. . .he still prays for kitty cat first. Not sure if there has every been more prayers for a CAT than now. :)
Oh, and the title of this post. The newest thing from li'l Caleb is to come up to either Caleb or me and say, "So, Dad? [insert comment]." Caleb has decided the li'l guy is going to be a talk show host. We used to say he was going to be a televangelist (that was after grabbing Caleb's wallet and saying "Bible?" but now I think he's moved on. Ah, the joys of raising children! They'll either keep me young (sooooo much laughter!) or make me old before my time (I don't THINK i've found a gray hair yet) but either way, GOTTA LOVE 'EM!!

Well, I kinda lied too. . .there has been some big news. In case you haven't heard, Caleb was offered a full time position at the church we've been attending!!! He's been working on a contract basis for the last few months, and they just hired him on effective March 1st to be the Pastor of Adult Ministries! He's very excited about the role, and it'll allow him to keep doing what he's been doing (which he really enjoys) and also bring other duties as well. Thanks to EVERYONE who sent up a prayer on our behalf!! We're both very excited, and once again, are in AWE of the AWESOMENESS of God!

Lake Worgess

Hello! Nothing too big to report, but I thought I'd share a few cute pics of the kids. Grammy and Pappy were here this week and took them to the Children's Museum, but I don't have any of those pics. . .check their blog to see if they post any. The kids had a BLAST this week and it was hard to see Grammy and Pappy leave (li'l guy's lower lip was trembling pretty good, but he got over it quickly).



This picture of Caleb was what we saw when we walked into the living room one day. He had dumped out all the food from it's bin (all the plastic food they got for Christmas that came in its own handy-dandy carrying case. . .great pick Auntie Em!!) and decided to try sitting in it. He did fit (maybe not that surprising, it is a big bin) and was enjoying himself immensely. See the red thing in the bin with him? That's his Elmo/Cookie Monster magnadoodle. . .he has started carrying it everywhere with him. He'll come up to us, "What you want for dinner, Mommy?" Then he'll "write" down whatever we tell him. He really looks just like a little waiter (yes, we do eat out too often!) and it makes us laugh.



Abby is learning lots of new words and she continues to make us laugh as well. Here's a picture of her after coming home from the store with Daddy the other day. She had stopped in the garage and picked up Caleb's bicycle helmet. . .it fit her over her hood. Safety first right? Or as Chris would say, "Safety. . .it doesn't suck." (Yes, he told me to use that phrase years ago when we had a safety sticker contest at the plant. . .this is why he isn't in HR.)



So, some of the words she now says are "shoes" (yes, one of Caleb's first words too), baby, chair, juice, and the usual Mama and Dada. She's quite good at the jibberish thing too. She can sit and talk for hours and not really make one bit of sense. :)


So, why the title? Well, while everyone north of I-70 (about a 1/2 hour north of here) is getting HAMMERED with snow, we here in "the south" have just had rain, rain, and more rain. Hence, we now live on Lake Worgess. If it would hurry up and freeze we could probably do a little ice skating, but it's still supposed to be in the upper 40's tomorrow again. I have to admit. . .I miss the snow! And the kids are missing out on some great times playing in the snow and sledding. THIS is not winter. 2 hour school delay because it's 15 degrees outside??? HELLO? Yeah, welcome to the south.

Role Reversal

Tonight we had a bit of role reversal in the house. I was finishing preparing dinner, and Caleb went to put the kids in their seats. . .instead, li'l guy got to sit in his old high chair and Abby sat in li'l guys booster seat. Wow. . .remember when his feet barely came down over the seat?? (and no, his pants aren't that short, they were just pulled up from when he slid down into the seat. . .)Abby's still a little short for the booster seat (takes after her momma) but she did enjoy sitting there.
Last weekend, we drove up to the suburbs to meet my very bestest friend in the whole wide world and her family. Shannon and Travis drove down from Tomah on Saturday and we met at a hotel in Elmhurst for the night. Shannon had called me a few months ago and said they wanted to meet us halfway for a weekend, and she had hotel points for two rooms! So, we had adjoining rooms (free!) AND the hotel had a big waterpark inside. The kids had a BLAST! I don't have any pics of the water part, but Shannon does, so when I get some of those, I'll post them.

Here's Miss Lydia (there is NO question this child belongs to Shannon. . .she is a little Mini Me of Shannon!!). She definitely had fun, but she wasn't as sure of us as her brother. Lydia will be 2 years old in February.

Here's a pic of Caleb and Abby right before we left. Li'l guy got to ride on the luggage cart and had a pretty fun time with that.
Then there were Caleb and Weston. Weston is about a year and a half older than li'l guy, but these two were like two peas in a pod the entire time. They'd go running back and forth between the rooms, and both had a GREAT time playing together in the water! Here they are just hangin' out. . .

And here they are dancing and running around. They were really funny together. They'd start saying "Shake your booty" and both of them would shake their little hind ends. It was VERY funny, and I really wish I would have had the video camera out. We had SUCH a good time, and we agreed we need to do that again sometime (soon I hope!).
Here's a picture of Abby doing what she does best. . .eating. She was too funny. Shannon was handing out plastic cups with Chex Mix in them, so Abby grabbed one and her juice, went into the other room, climbed up on the chair, and sat and enjoyed her food. This is pretty much how I found her.

It was a WONDERFUL weekend, and I'm so glad we were able to see Shannon and Travis. Since we had the connecting rooms, we put all the kids to bed in one room so we could stay up later and visit and play cards. It worked out so well! Of course, being the old marrieds that we are, we were still in our own rooms, in bed by about 11:00 I think (this getting old stuff is hard!).

We were also able to see Chris and Em on Friday night (Thanks for letting us stay there!!) and went out for breakfast with them Saturday morning. I didn't get a picture, but Em was sitting in their big arm chair, and Abby climbed up next to her to watch her DVD. Abby would just sit there watching, then look up at Em and smile, and go back to watching her DVD. Made me laugh.

Well, I hear Mom found another chef's hat for the kids. . .yeah!!! Also, Leann (one of the kids' sitters) sent me a picture of Abby with the chefs hat on, but it's on my phone and I haven't sent it to my e-mail yet. The kids are excited to see Grammy and Pappy next weekend, even if only for a short time. Oh, and cute story. . .li'l guy loves to read the Bible now every night before he goes to bed. One night last week, he picked up his Bible (The Big Picture one he has), opened to the first story and proceeded to read it to me. It went kind of like this: "God created Heavens and earth. Then the twinkle, twinkle little stars (with a little side-track to sing the song). Then Adam and Eve in the water (there's a picture of them in the water), and then there's the snake. And then God say not supposed to eat from tree. They not 'pose eat from tree. They get in trouble." The kids no Bible scholar, but I thought he did pretty well for a 2 1/2 year old. :) He does love books!

Waterfront Property. . .

The kitchen is finally put together. Just for the record, we have a new rule. . ."he who buys the toys. . .puts them together." The train table wasn't too bad, but this durn kitchen. . .I even broke a nail! Oh well, the kids are really enjoying it. When we get home from being out somewhere, li'l guy will say, "I wanna cook." He is enjoying the grill side the most (good call Grammy!) as he can flip his cheeseburger just like Daddy does. This picture below was from the first morning we had it set up. . .Abby was so excited she came out before she had clothes on. Sorry for the naked baby. . . I'm thinkin' the kids are definitely watching what Caleb and I do. Both kids like to pour coffee in the cups, then they'll put the cup in the little microwave. Hmmm, where'd they learn that? Oh, and did I mention this thing makes noises too?? Yeah, not only did I break a nail, but it's just one more toy that talks. That's ok though, once again, the kids really like it.
Here's li'l guy trying to see through the kitchen window. OH, and we are definitely on the lookout for another chef's hat. This only came with one, but both kids like to wear it. I thought I had a picture of Abby with it on too, but I guess not.
Then one morning I grabbed the camera, and li'l guy even came running, "Pictures! Cheeeeeeese." Then just as the picture was about to take, he took off. . .hence the picture below. Caleb really like's my parents' new camera, so I have a feeling that will be one of our next big purchases (long way down the road, but still). Our camera has been faithful for over 5 1/2 years, but those SLR (?? I'm not the techie of the family, but I think that's what it is) cameras are definitely nice! Especially with kids that don't sit still long. :)
So this crazy Spring-like weather in January? Not really a big fan. The one day was nice (I even got the flip flops out for a couple days) but then the rains came. . .and the rains came down and the floods came up. Grrrr. Hence, the Waterfront Property. Who knew we lived on a lake! :) Oh well. It did the same thing last year (not in January of course) and we're somewhat used to the little mosquito breeding grounds. The water is receding and we'll be back to normal in another day or two (barring any additional rain). Then again, if it stayed for awhile and we finally got some normal weather, maybe we could go ice skating??

Merry New Year!

Wow. . .where did the time go??? January 1, 2008??? Ugh. Time flies when you're having run, right? Right! So, for New Year's Eve, we just went out to dinner as a family and then came home and crashed! It was WONDERFUL!!!! We've been on the go for a while now, and it was nice to sit and do nothing, together. :) Here's a picture of Abby right before we left to get dinner. She was sitting on our bed and climbed over up against the pillows, pulled the blanket up and was ready to just watch some TV. It was cute. :)And of course, today was the big day. . .the Michigan game. Of course, Caleb took the kids right away this morning to get them dressed and ready for the game. . .then he came out to do his ceremonial (kind of) Playstation game (he likes to gear up for football games by playing his Playstation football game and making sure Michigan beats any team they go up against . . . so he set up and played Florida). Anyway, he walked away for a minute, I walked into the living room and this is what I saw. . .Abby looked like she was trying to play the game. The funnier part (and I wish I would have had the video camera out) was when the game started playing "Hail to the Victors" she started smiling and dancing. It was really cute!
After the Playstation, the pre-game ceremony included putting together the "Thomas the Tank Engine Table" (as li'l guy calls it whenever he talks about it). Li'l Caleb was so excited about this and he played with his trains alllllll day.
He even let Abby play with him (a little). She doesn't like to play with the trains so much as the table is right at her level. No, we haven't put the kitchen up yet as we're trying to figure out where to put it. The kids are definitely waiting for it though!!!
Well, it's been fun while it lasted, but the vacation is now ending and tomorrow it's back to work. Back to reality. Happy New Year!

Sunday Pics

Hello!! Just some random pics from Sunday. The kids were dressed for church and they looked too cute together. SO, of course, I had to get out the camera. Li'l guy's sweater was a Christmas gift from Grammy and Pappy and he loved it. He wouldn't even take it off for lunch or dinner (so we really had to watch him to make sure he didn't get his sleeves in anything. . .I think he may have picked up some mashed potatoes though). After church it was time for the Bear's game, so I checked to see if Abby's Urlacher jersey still fit (it's a 12 month and it fit her last February, so I wasn't too optimistic). BUT, alas, it did fit (tightly, but we must show off the belly anyway). She didn't cheer too long since she fell asleep by the middle of the 1st quarter, but I'm sure she was cheering them on in her sleep. :)
Here's a couple pics of Abby and Caleb showing off on the rocking horse. Abby gets stuck and can't get off the horse, so li'l Caleb will come over and lift her left for her (such a nice, helpful brother).

Then, here is Daddy's attempt at making Abby a Lion's fan. . .Mommy says no lions, no tigers, just Bears. I think I'll be overruled though. . .
Abby likes to climb up into Caleb's "Cars" chair (sometimes she'll get stuck and we'll have to come bail her out) and here she is showing off.Abby likes to be on Daddy's shoulders. . .it's pretty high up there. Then again, when Uncle Jon and Aunt Rhonda have their baby, he/she will probably have nosebleeds when Jon puts him/her on his shoulders. This isn't from Sunday, but I thought I'd show how li'l guy likes to ride the fire truck. Too bad Pappy isn't a fireman still so he could ride on a REAL fire truck.

Christmas - Part 3 "The Final Frontier"

The third and final Christmas stop was in Walnut, IL at Grandma and Papa Worgess' house. Yet more gifts and great time with family greeted us there. We arrived early Christmas afternoon, and Papa promptly proceeded to tell li'l Caleb that the biggest box under the tree was for him (great. . .and how are we supposed to fit THAT in the van??). :) But, the kids had to wait until later that night to open their goodies. Everyone but Pete and Hilary were able to make it, so it was quite the lively bunch! After dinner, it was finally time to get started. . .

Here's a picture of li'l Caleb opening his big box. . .it was a huge fire engine! He loves it!!! The ladder goes up and down and you can turn the lights and siren on too (actually, funny story, when we packed up to leave, this thing fit just perfectly in the very back on the van, but it shifted slightly and something kept hitting the "lights and siren" buttons, so Caleb was seeing these flashing red lights in his rear-view mirror. . .he kept thinking he was being pulled over. Ha ha ha!) That made me laugh. Fortunately, it has an on/off switch so we were able to not have to hear the screeching siren the next 5 hours. There was also a fireman's badge which li'l guy proudly displayed! :)

Abby's favorite present that night was her Dora chair. It's a foam chair, but she kept trying to make it a recliner. She'd sit down then lean way back and start rocking. Cracked us up. At one point, she had pulled it close to the couch and was trying to put her feet up on the couch too. She's so funny! She was definitely quite relaxed!

I guess I didn't have as many pics as I thought. . .there was quite a bit of action all night, so we were probably too distracted to take pictures. Thanks to Grandma and Papa, Uncle Pete and Aunt Hilary, Uncle Jon and Aunt Rhonda, and Ron, Joanne, and the girls for the great presents and the nice time with family! Hopefully Pete and Hilary will be able to join us next year.

Well, I have to say, I'm sort of glad to be done with Christmas. The hustle and bustle of the holidays can become overwhelming, and while I don't feel that I was overwhelmed, it's just nice to be done. And. . .now that we've celebrated the birth of our Saviour, we can anxiously await the celebration that HE IS RISEN! (3 months, and counting. . .)