Family trip

We had a great time with family last week. My sister-in-law has done a post on their blog. So until I get to my own pictures, you can go here to see some of what we did.

The biggest kid of the bunch

Having a great time with all the family.

Grandfather's having as much fun as the kids, as you can tell from this picture.

Oh, but it is just a kiddie ride!

Little Miss Fix-it

Eliana wanted to fix her princess phone. She thought the batteries were bad so she said, "Mom, I'm going to go out and get a screwdriver."

She found the longest screwdriver in Joel's toolbox.

She got right to work. It didn't look easy.

But she was happy fixing her phone. Turns out it's not the batteries - There's a button that is stuck. She might need dad's help after all.

CFI

Congrats to Joel!

He just passed another flight test. He is now a Certified Flight Instructor. Anybody want to be the guinea pig - er, I mean his first student??

5-day club

I took the kids to a friend's house for a 5-day club last week. The kids said they really liked the missionary story and being with their friends. Joanna said she really liked the cookies too =)

Go here to see a few pictures.

Bowling

We went bowling with some friends last week and the kids had a great time. We signed up for a kids bowl free program. Check it out here if you're interested.

Joanna did well!

Caleb started out on a non-bumper lane. He ended up moving over to a lane with bumpers and did much better!

Eliana did not want to wear those weird bowling shoes.

She eventually tried it - but without the shoes.

Eliana being silly with some friends.

Toofy

Joel's got another nickname for Karis - Toofy.

Dishwasher surfing

Sometimes Karis likes to "help" mommy with the dishwasher. This time she decided she wanted to ride it.

She's quite the surfer. Next time maybe she'll hang ten!

Fishing & A Prince

Also last weekend, we went to our homeschool group's end-of-the-year party. One of the dads has access to his company's recreation area, and it was a lot of fun.

Caleb got to try fishing for the first time. He really enjoyed it, although all he caught was some algae.

Here's our pigtail princess. She also tried her hand at casting the line. She managed to do it quite well (and also caught her share of algae).

Joanna

Guess what's in the trap?

Karis isn't quite sure what to think....

Yep, it's a big ol' bullfrog. No one kissed it. We'll never know if it was a prince or not.

All four

It's not very often that I get all four kids in a picture.

Last weekend we went to a nearby town where Joel had to do some training and we visited the town's little zoo.

Caleb & Eliana - Caleb had to have his picture by this tank at a memorial we passed.

Look ma, no training wheels!

We have another biker in the family! Eliana is a natural.

Joel found a bike being thrown out a couple of weeks ago and just picked it up cause it was PINK! A couple of nights ago our neighbor quickly helped us get the tires all fixed up and ready to go. I didn't think that Eliana was quite ready yet to learn without her training wheels, but she wanted to try tonight. I held onto the back of the seat one time down the street and then she had it no problem.

Here's a video of her tonight. It's a little dark, but enjoy her happy squeals.

Texas Roadhouse

Uncle Dave & Aunt Beth were here for a visit last week, and one night we went out to eat at the Texas Roadhouse. The kids think it's so cool that you get all the peanuts you want and you get to throw the shells on the floor.

Karis was our entertainment for the evening. I think she really likes country music. Every so often the waiters stop and do a line dance. Karis was dancing away to the music which caught our waitress's attention and so she asked if Karis could dance with her. Very cute and funny. We also got a little video clip of her "dancing" in her high chair which is below. It's pretty loud in the restaurant so you can't even hear the music, but you can hear Joanna laughing in the background.

Eliana loves

Garage Sales!!

We went on an early bike ride this morning and happened to pass a garage sale. Eliana found the greatest dress (according to her!) so we had to hurry home and get mom's wallet.

I'm thinking that she'll be wearing her new dress the rest of the day.

Messy Spaghetti

Karis loves her spaghetti! Umm bath time??

This picture is of her 1st spaghetti a little while ago.

New uniform

Last week we went to check out a Taekwondo class. While we were watching, Caleb said he was getting more interested by the minute! Tonight Joel & Caleb went for the first time, and they had a great time!

Hyah! Watch out everyone!

If we work together...

Joanna and Caleb were getting ready to work on a globe puzzle. It will be a sphere when they are done with it.

They were very excited to get going, but I told them to read the instructions first.

I showed them that the box said it was for ages 12+ and told them that it might be a little hard and not to get frustrated. Caleb then responded, "But if we work together, we're 16."

Her nose!

She's found her nose!

Two teeth and a trip to the ER

Monday was a rough day for Karis. She has had two teeth trying to come in for almost 2 weeks. Her gums have been raw for quite a while, but they finally popped through! She also got croup pretty bad toward the late afternoon and we weren't able to do much for her. We finally decided she was working way too hard to breathe and it wasn't letting up so we took her to the ER. We're glad we took her in as she kept getting worse. She's on the mend now. She just goes from happy to crabby very quickly as she needs to catch up on her sleep.

Waving to dad

Here's a picture from over 3 years ago.

All lined up waving good-bye to dad.

Birthdays!

We celebrated Caleb's birthday and Karis' birthday last weekend. Where has the time gone? This week alone flew by so fast. Caleb had a great time and loved sharing his day with Karis.

The birthday girl!

Karis is eating some chicken here. Notice it is not her cupcake.

The birthday boy!

Karis starting to mess with her cupcake. She didn't want much to do with it and didn't like the frosting on her fingers.

I broke the cupcake up thinking she might take a bite, but she didn't want it. Can you tell?? It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to!

Caleb was so excited with each and every present he opened.