A new post.

Wow, a new post. It's only been, what, ten (10) months since my last post? I'm telling you, Facebook has been the demise of my blog. What I was using as a means of sharing funny stories with family has been replaced by the ease and instant gratification (feedback) of Facebook. This year, I gave up Facebook for Lent. I *gasp* have cheated a little, and it's all my sister-in-law's fault. She went and had her baby early, so I logged in to Facebook to check on how the little guy and family are doing. All. Shawna's. Fault. :)

Let's see what's new (major stuff) since my last point:

• Katrina is 5 1/2, almost 6 (13 May); she is in Kindergarten and loves it, for the most part. She loves reading, music, art ... pretty much everything but PE. In fact, we gathered from a story she told us that she was skipping PE class! Katrina had figured out that she could spend a long time in the bathroom and get out of PE. We mentioned it to her teacher, who spoke with the PE instructor, and all is well now.
  
• Mikayla is 3 (19 December); we spend our days hanging out around the house, playing dress up and reading, running errands and being part of two Bible studies. Each day is an adventure with this silly girl! We went through a rough time in November where some really strong-willed tendencies appeared, but thankfully are through that now.
  
• Sydney is almost 7 months (29 August) and is a delightful baby! She sleeps, eats, smiles, and sucks her thumb all day. Her face lights up when she sees her sisters or her daddy. She's starting to develop a personality and it's funny to see what she likes and doesn't like. Sydney does NOT like banana baby food! She wrinkles her nose, turns her face away, and spits out every bite of it.
  
• Ryan is about to celebrate his (counting on my fingers ... and toes ...) 13th anniversary with Sycamore in May. The company was sold in the fall and is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of a larger corporation. So far the sale has been fairly seamless, and we continue to be blessed by a wonderful company.
  
• I have been staying home with the girls for about 18 months (since late August 2009). I enjoy my days with the girls at home and volunteer twice a month in Katrina's classroom. A year ago I was granted a District License by the Mid-Atlantic District of the Church of the Nazarene, a major step on the road to ordination.
  

I guess those last two bullet points are not major updates, just continuing status. :) The girls and I will be traveling to Illinois at Easter to visit our families. Pretty much daily Katrina informs us that she misses Grandma/Papa/Grammie/[insert family member here]. We saw almost everyone at Christmas (Shawna and Bobby stayed in Texas), but it will be four months between visits and that's a long time for a 5-year-old! We hope to visit for two weeks in July, after school and VBS and before summer camps and other busyness.

Just checking ...

Whew. I've heard rumors of several Blogger/Blogspot blogs being deleted lately, so I thought I would check to see if this still exists. It's here, even though I haven't posted in six-ish months. I blame it on Facebook ... it's much 'easier' to update my friends and family in 140 characters several times throughout the week than it is actually compose complete thoughts. Anybody feel the same?

On the eve of Katrina's birthday, I thought I would look back at what I had to say when she was born. The past five years have passed in the blink of an eye. We are incredibly blessed to have not only Katrina but also Mikayla (age 2) and another little girl due to join our family in a few short months. At age 5 - tomorrow! - Katrina:

- is excited about school, both preschool now and starting kindergarten in the fall
- likes the colors green and pink
- is 'bestest church friends' with Katelynn and Alyssa M., Katelyn and Maddy B. (and their little brother Jack), and Jeremiah K.
- loves her family - Daddy, Mommy, Mikayla (well, most of the time :)), Grandma, Papa, Grammie, Aunties, Uncles and cousins
- wants to be either a farmer or a cowboy or maybe a PE teacher (!) when she grows up
- would spend hours a day 'reading' - looking at books - if our schedule so allowed
- would also spend hours a day watching shows like Team UmiZoomi, Little Bear, Word World and others - if Mommy and Daddy allowed
- asked Jesus to 'live in her neck' (a long story) almost a year ago and is growing more and more each day in her understanding of God's love for her and what the Bible says
- likes typical 'kid food' like mac 'n' cheese and hot dogs, but also likes salmon (she calls it 'pink fish') and is starting to like kumla, much to Daddy's delight
- loves to run and play but is sometimes a little shy and gets frustrated/scared in new situations
- is NOT a performer - she does not like to be put on the spot to answer questions, sing a song, etc.

When asked repeatedly what she would like for her birthday, she only wanted a Pillow Pet. Specifically, she has asked for a ladybug Pillow Pet for her and a puppy Pillow Pet for Mikayla.

We love our daughters very much and they are delightfully unique. We praise God for the five wonderful years we've had as parents so far ... and we pray for the strength and wisdom needed for the next 15 years! :)

Pumpkin Pie

Has it really been 9+ months since I last updated my blog? I guess that's due to using Facebook more, since most family and friends are on FB, and sharing photos, etc., is easier ...

Anyway, I wanted to share a 'recipe' by Katrina. Her class created a Thanksgiving cookbook and she dictated to her teacher how to make pumpkin pie. [Note: I've never made pumpkin pie from scratch, so I'm surprised her recipe wasn't something like "Open the box that says M-R-S S-M-I-T-H on it and put it in the oven."]

Pumpkin Pie by Katrina, age 4.5

Ingredients: Apples, pumpkins, sugar, milk and butter

Directions: Cook the apples and the pumpkins on the stove for 12 minutes. Then you put the sugar, milk and butter in the pan and cook for 11 hours. Then you eat it.

Yummy!

Intruder Alert

Our dog was barking like crazy this morning and I couldn't figure out why. He often barks at the cats, but they were in the kitchen with me. The dog was going nuts barking and growling at something in the hallway, so I decided to check (I was thinking maybe a mouse?).

I laughed when I saw the subject of his distress. It was too horrid, too gruesome, to frightening for the poor dog to handle. It was ...

A toy piggy bank

Voting, according to a 3-year-old

I took Katrina and Mikayla with me to vote tonight. I'm pretty sure Katrina has accompanied me to vote every opportunity in her 3.5 years. I told her today that we have to make a very important decision - who will be President. I explained that the President is in charge of all the people in our country, and it's a very big job to have.

She ran around the saying, "I go vote! I go vote!" I quizzed Katrina in the van on the way to our polling place (all of 0.9 miles away), asking her questions like, "What are we going to do?" and "We are voting for ... ?" Her response: "We vote presents! Vote my teachers!"

This reference to her teachers puzzled me. Did her preschool teacher talk about voting last week? Surely not. Maybe she overheard some of the childcare providers at the Y playroom talking?

Voting was simple and quick. No lines, no wait. I love voting in Braddock Heights.

Back in the van on the way home, I put two and two together. Katrina was not saying "I go vote," she was saying "I go boat." I finally figured this out when she made a sad face and whispered, "I go beach, Mommy, please?" She thought we were going on another cruise to the beach! Ah, my child. She's a funny one for sure. I clarified that I was saying V-O-T-E, and Katrina replied, "Oh, yeah! That's funny, Mommy."

The end. :)

And the Angels Rejoiced Greatly

My pocketbook is rejoicing greatly, too. I saw a sign yesterday that said, "Coming soon: Aldi"

We're getting an Aldi here in Frederick! Yay! For those of you who don't know, I'm from the Midwest, where it seems like there's an Aldi in every town. Aldi is a super-cheap grocery store. You won't find name brands, or much variety, but it's fairly good stuff. Aldi was great for surviving summers on campus without food service.

Until now, the nearest Aldi is in Hagerstown, about 30 minutes away. Not a big deal, but I've never managed to get over to that store. We have a huge Aldi warehouse or corporate building outside of Frederick that tricked me the first time I saw it.

I was wrong.

For quite awhile now, I have thought that Mikayla is much bigger than her sister Katrina was at this age. While the girls were very close in birth weight (Katrina was 6 lbs 10.5 oz and Mikayla was 6 lbs 12 oz), Katrina stayed scrawny for a very long time. Even today, she is very lean and muscular. On her third birthday in May, Ryan accidentally dressed her in her sister's size 3-month pants, and they fit her like shorts! Mikayla put on weight much faster, and earlier, than her big sister did, or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this comparison:

02/15/2005 - Katrina's 9-month well visit
Age: 9 months, 2 days
Weight: 17 lbs, 2 ounces
Length: 29 1/4"

09/23/2008 - Mikayla's 9-month well visit
Age: 9 months, 4 days
Weight: 16 lbs, 12 ounces
Length: 29 1/2"

It's only a difference of 6 ounces and 1/4", but I thought for sure that Mikayla (or Baby 'Kayla, as we call her) was growing bigger faster than her sister. Looks like we are in for another banana baby.

I haven't done a good job of keeping the gallery up-to-date. I did recently post some new pictures of the girls on Facebook. Let me know if you aren't on Facebook - I think I can share the album with you anyway.

In other news, we booked a vacation today ... for next week! It's a 6-day Bahamas cruise departing from Norfolk, VA. We leave on October 5th and return on the 12th. I would link to it, but the stupid Carnival Cruise website doesn't work on my computer (Firefox for Linux). Katrina is very excited about going to 'the beach.' Let a crazy week of packing begin! I've never cruised with a 9-month old ... any tips on what to do (or what not to do)?