Truck Technique by Dad

He's 19 months old and he has already had 5 haircuts. Only one of those 5 has been one that we actually liked (it was done by his Nana Reeve last summer). I'm kind of at a loss with what to do about it. I've actually considered waiting until we see Dan's mom... but we only see her about twice a year. A couple nights ago I was giving Carter a bath and I just couldn't wait any longer. I grabbed our medical scissors and went to town. The end result was not good. Dan walked in during the middle of it and turned around and walked right back out. Steven offered to trim it up with his clippers when we came downstairs. It looks better now... but the back is still pretty bad. At least it's long on top... unlike last time.

A new baby...

Today we got Carter a baby doll. Carter doesn't say many words... but he has been saying baby non stop lately. I don't know if it's because he mostly plays with girls (Shannon, I think we need to schedule a play date) or maybe because some of our friends have had babies recently. Whatever it is... we thought it would be a good thing for him to have.

The ride...

Carter and Chloe this morning. Don't you think they make a cute couple? I mean there is the age thing and the talking thing on Carter's end.... but I think they can make it work.

I have special permission to say this... our good friends, Joe and Amanda were engaged on Monday. We are so excited for you guys. Congratulations!!!!

Two moments from my day...

On my flight from Denver this morning the man sitting next to us wrote Carter's name on his shoe with a ball point pen. Oh well...

When I walked in the door from the airport I found Dan's beta fish in the blender (not blended).
It's been good to have some laughs this week.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles


and warm woolen mittens


Brown paper packages tied up with strings


These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels


Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles


Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes


Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes


Silver white winters that melt into springs


These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

Happy Shower, Katherine! We hope you had as much fun as we did!! We can't wait to meet your little guy.

Things are finally starting to slow down and get back to normal. I don't think we're really ready for normal to be back yet... but it is. My Mom and Dad were here for the first week of January. We had a really great time. I'll have to post pictures of that later... but I wanted to do a post about Joe's Place before I do anything else.

We just passed the 1 year mark of when our first student moved in. So much happened in that year that I can't really decide if it went by slow or fast... but it went leaving us with a ton of memories. Our friends here know that sometimes it's hard for me to talk about these guys without tears coming to my eyes. They have added to our family in a way that we never could have imagined. In the past year we have also seen how a community can really come together to care for each other. At the beginning of December our church held their Christmas Women's Fellowship here at our house. A lot of people brought gift cards that night so we could buy gifts for the guys. We were blown away by how many there were. We had so much fun shopping and even more fun watching them open their gifts on Christmas day. Another woman in the community bought a TV for Joe's Place as a Christmas gift for her brother who used to work in the school district. Another huge thing is the meals that we get twice a week. Every Tuesday and Thursday a meal is dropped off from a restaurant, church, or family. We eat like Kings and Queens because of these meals. I had to take a picture of the meal we got on Thursday...


It was like having Christmas dinner all over again.

We thank the Lord for this place we are at now... for the relationships that we get to build with these guys.

I just have to share one more story. For my birthday this week Steven insisted that he make me a birthday breakfast. I kind of laughed because I know him well enough now to know that he doesn't get up when his alarm goes off. I was wrong. I woke up to a beautifully decorated plate of crepes, my coffee fixed exactly how I like it, and a full glass of orange juice.

I can't think of a better way to have started my day.

Where has our winter weather gone?

Celebrating 6 sweet years with this guy today...

Happy New Year!

Clinking in the New Year with Jen and Steve this morning. Nobody made it to midnight last night.