Fun kids

Today I realized that Kaiyah is the age that Zeke was when Kaiyah was born. Wow! I think I'm grateful that we still have another 5 months or so before little girl #2 gets here. That said, I LOVE having my kids close in age. I know a lot of people think we are crazy, especially over here where it is a very uncommon thing to do, but it's just so fun to see that best-friend friendship develop between our kids. They are close enough in age that they find the same things funny, they like to play with the same toys, they love dancing together and singing together. It's just been a fun thing the last several months to watch as they have really started interacting with and enjoying one another! Here are a few pictures from the last month:

We've been playing a lot of legos lately . . .

and a lot of baby dolls . . .

Christmas Cuties

I told you this was going to be a marathon blogging day. You should be grateful, I've spent my entire nap-time freedom on this project :) Dan took some pictures of the kids in their Christmas clothes. They were all too cute, I couldn't narrow it down.

December crafting . . .

Zeke LOVES anything that has to do with paper, colors, scissors, tape and glue. The first words out of his mouth when he wakes up are frequently "Can I glue?" So, we have passed December crafting away! Here is a SMALL sample of the things Zeke (and Kaiyah) have done.We made paper chains to count down the days until Christmas. A few weeks ago we went to some friends' home and they had chains as well, but on each link they had written a name. Every night when they take off a link, they pray for the person on the link. I LOVE this idea. We'll have to do it next year.Dan came up with the idea of making homemade clay that can be baked in the oven after you make stuff out of it. Saturday we spent ALL DAY on this project. It was a lot of fun.The following picture is Kaiyah's 'I know I'm not supposed to do this but I'm going to do it anyway face.'So, after eating a bite of clay that contains a cup of salt in it, this is Kaiyah's 'maybe I should have listened to mom and dad face'!We didn't get a picture of the final results, but here is a glimpse of what my wonderfully talented husband made. I was impressed.

Shack Kids update . . .

The kids are napping, and Dan is off Christmas shopping, so get ready for some marathon blogging! Last night we were invited to a one-year-old birthday party for a friend's little girl. Zeke and Kaiyah had a great time playing with all the other kids that were there. The party happened to take place right across the street from the one Krispie Kreme shop in town, so of course we had to stop in and get a dozen (at the tune of $15/dozen). So hyped up on chocolate cake and donuts, we headed home. This morning, we finished off the donuts for breakfast, and then I promptly left for language class. When I returned home I found one particular 3 year old boy who was BOUNCING off the walls and apparently hadn't stopped talking or moving since I had left! Haha. Here is a video of another incident that happened recently that we thought was pretty funny.

Kaiyah is growing up and blabbing all the time. A lot of times it's a guess as to what she is saying, and then out of the blue she will say a long sentence that is very clear and concise! She LOVES her baby dolls. She usually gets out of bed with her blanket in one hand and a baby doll in another. Recently she has been climbing down from the dinner table to go get a doll to feed during the meal time! We may have to keep a closer eye on the "mothering" that baby number 3 receives! Kaiyah has also been telling us every time she goes number 2 "in schuie, in schuie" while pointing to her diaper, and often when she goes number 1 "in pee pee, in pee pee". This might lead me to hope that she will potty train early, but the fact that she has wet through her diaper during the night on several occasions recently makes me think we have a ways to go! Here are a few pictures to enjoy of the kiddos . . .
We ate at a restaurant recently where the kids received balloons. Didn't take long to discover the fun that can be had with a balloon and the hair of a 1 1/2 year old!

Christmas baking

You may have noticed a lack of blogging in the last little while. Well, Dan has been busy/preoccupied with other areas of life, and so the blogging world, when left in my hands has been pretty well neglected. Partly there hasn't been anything exciting enough to blog about, or maybe I've just been too tired to think something was exciting enough to blog about! All that to say, yesterday the kids and I started our Christmas baking, so I made a special effort to make sure a couple of pictures were taken that I could post for your pleasure. Now, without further adieu . . .

Why We Go to Bed Tired . . .

Zeke is Three!!!

You ask, "How old are you now, Zeke?" Zeke excitedly holds up three fingers on each hand, thrusts his arms into the air and shouts, leaning forward, "I'm threeeeeeeeee!"

That's right! Zeke is three years old today! And such a blessing he has been to us! Today, Dan offered to carry him up the stairs since it was his birthday. He said, "Daddy, birthday boys don't need to be carried." He also went outside to the playground at our workplace (where we could still see him, by the way) and looked after Kaiyah for us. Ah, they grow up so quickly...

We celebrated the occasion yesterday, when we went with some friends to a local mall-type place to ride kiddy rides. We then came home and ate taco salad and train cake and opened presents. Zeke had a lot of fun all day.

This morning, we surprised Zeke with a doughnut breakfast in bed. He didn't seem so excited at first, but he grew into it quickly. We also gave Zeke his last present, which was a tee pee and a tent, with a tube that connects the both. He found it when he came out to the living room and was very happy, but asked, "Where's my other present that I get to open?"

Anyway, we've had a lot of fun the last two days and we thought we'd share a little bit. If you'd like to see other pictures, click here.