Gingerbread Trains

Thanks to an early Christmas present from Aunt Marie, Krieg had a blast building and decorating this gingerbread train. He especially loved that he could eat the "glue."

9 Months

I think these pictures capture a little of Karis' curious, fun, crazy personality. In the last month, Karis has learned to crawl, pull up on EVERYTHING, fly up the stairs, and get into anything and everything in our house. I don't think there is a cabinet that hasn't been opened (until the locks went on) a bookshelf that hasn't been unloaded, or a nook and cranny uninspected. My favorite moment of the week was when I was unloading the dishwasher yesterday, I turned my head for a minute and found Karis 3/4 of the way into the dishwasher, with a huge grin on her face. The one thing that always surprises me about her is that as adventuresome as she is, she is SO dramatic when she falls down or hits her head on something, which happens way too often.

We sure do love her curious, dramatic self

Christmas Trees

On Monday we made a trip up to Cullowhee to the Stewart Family Tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree at our friends' farm and do a little visiting. It was freezing at the top of the mountain, but beautiful and totally worth it. In trying to remember warm things for everyone else, I not only forgot my hat, but my coat as well. Thankfully Kevin had an extra sweatshirt! Krieg had a great time walking up and down the "aisles" or trees and helping Kevin pick out the perfect one. Thanks Stewarts for letting us come for a visit!

Lately

Here are a few things we've been up to lately...

We are still trying to sneak in a few more runs to the park before the real winter cold hits. I am so thankful the kids will tough out the stroller for a 20 minute run. It does wonders for my sanity!



Since Karis has become a pretty proficient crawler, she has become a much better playmate for Krieg. Most of the time Krieg likes that she can follow him places (into forts, tents, etc) but he is quickly having to learn to be generous with his things when his heart wants so badly to be selfish!

Karis has decided that she much prefers being on her feet than on her knees. She is cruising around everything. Her favorite new discovery is our bathrooms. Anytime she sees a bathroom door open, she bee-lines for it. The other day I had just finished cleaning one of them, so I let her explore to her heart's content, and she literally spent 20 min in this tiny space, checking everything out, all with a huge smile on her face. If Krieg's descriptive word is cautious, then Karis' is definitely curious. She wants to know about everything!

Round Two

Today was the second of many big leave blowing extravaganzas in our yard. I thought I would let Karis join in on the fun. This is the closest I could get Krieg to actually sitting next to Karis. And as you can see, our backyard is on a hill, so Karis kept toppling over!

Leaves

I was inside cooking while the two hours of leaf blowing and jumping was taking place outside, but according to Kevin, this might have been one of the most fun things Krieg has ever done. At least there is one reason to be thankful for all of the massive oak trees around our house.

Oh how different they are

The word I usually use to best describe Krieg's personality is cautious. He is cautious around people he doesn't know, even people he knows well and just hasn't seen in, oh, maybe a day! He is timid in new places. He's a rule follower, observer, doubtful that he can tackle difficult circumstances...

Karis, however, has entered the world of crawling today, with anything but a cautious nature. I new it was coming. She has been about to crawl for a few weeks now, lunging at things out of reach, being a drama queen and screaming when she can't reach what she wants, and my favorite, eying the "no no's" around the house. So, today she made the plunge and figured out to crawl forward on her knees a few feet. Her motivation, my camera and my phone. Every time she sees our phones, she darts for them. She has also already tried to stick her hands in an electrical outlet, (a covered one, don't worry!) and has consequently also gotten her first hand pop. And when I put her down on the kitchen floor for the first time today while I cooked, she managed to pull herself to the kitchen island, open a cabinet, stand up, and pull 3 or 4 things off the shelf. Seriously? I never even put locks on our cabinets with Krieg because he NEVER tried to open them! He never pulled things off shelves, out of drawers, anything.

So, my plan for tomorrow, crawl around the entire house trying to figure out what Karis is going to get into in the next couple of weeks and how in the world I can keep her little hands out of things!

Warrior

We didn't do anything for Halloween this year, since I'm not really a fan, and Kevin was gone tonight. But when Krieg heard people would be coming to our house dressed in costumes, he very politely insisted that he have one too. So, I found him a breastplate at the dollar store, added a construction hat and gave him a balloon sword, and here you have our little knight in armor. He was thrilled. We have been sword fighting with balloons for the past few days. I love that I am raising a warrior! (Just noticed that the balloon is pink. I'll blow up a blue one tomorrow!)

Lessons from a not-quite-crawler

Over the past few weeks, I have been watching Karis scream and cry just about anytime I put her on her stomach or leave her on the floor when she tips over onto her belly. (She is a little dramatic!) I have been purposefully letting her scream and leaving her a little longer than she would like, in hopes that one day she will finally figure out how to crawl. (Krieg never did, so I am trying extra hard with her.) Every time she does this, its like she's saying, "Mommy, don't you love me? Why are you leaving me here??" And every time I tell her, "Karis, you need to learn how to crawl. I promise you will be happier when you can."


Yesterday was one of those days that I just kept saying all day, this day just can't get any worse- but it kept getting worse. And all day my response was, "Lord, really? Why are you letting all this happen?" God graciously reminded me of Karis' drama on her tummy and why I allow her to struggle on the floor.


"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4


"We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:3-5


God is allowing, even ordaining my frustrating days to develop perseverance, character and hope in me. He is doing it because He loves me, and he knows there will be more joy for me after He has refined me. If only I would want spiritual maturity and godliness more than I would want easy days with my kids and things working smoothly in my house. But I'm thankful for a God who wants better for me than I want for myself sometimes!

Batter Up

If you asked Krieg why he should eat his vegetable and meat, his answer would be "to make me strong to play baseball." He LOVES baseball. He can name about 10 different pitches, knows where a lot of the players stand, and can wail the ball so stinkin hard! We have let him play in the house with a soft ball since our living room is long and there isn't anything really breakable in it except windows, but I am about to have to outlaw it. He has been hitting the ball all the way into the kitchen, which is dangerous territory.

One of my favorite outings is our Saturday mornings at the park. We often have play dates with our Egyptian friends, and they all know I keep our tee, bat and ball in the trunk. We always end up playing for a while. And if we don't go to the park with them, Krieg usually asks to pull the tee out anyways, and most often every boy in the park ends up playing with us. The best Saturdays are when there is a team practicing on the field next to us. Last time we sat and watched and talked about baseball for probably 30 min!

Hats, Hair and Happiness

In honor of Karis turning 7 months , here are a few pictures of our happy little girl!

Krieg thought it would be fun to put his hat on her. She thought so too!


Karis' hair normally sticks up a little in the back, but yesterday it was spiked up all over. Kevin thought it looked cute, so I left it that way all day.


Oma came for a visit!

2 year old tantrums

Today definitely topped all parenting embarasement thus far. I took both kids to the library this morning and we were picking out a DVD for Krieg to take home. While I was browsing, he disobeyed me three times in a row, and I had warned him that if he did it again, he wouldn't get to take a DVD home. Well, naturally, in his rebellious 2 year old manner, he looked at me and did it again. So, no DVD for him. Enter- massive screaming tantrum- in the small, quiet library. I was not about to give in, since we are in a serious battle of authority these days at our house. So, what else was I going to do, but try to carry him out to the car to go home- with Karis in my other arm, no less. Oh if you could have only seen it. He was flailing, hitting me, trying as hard as he could to get down while I am trying desperately to hold on to him. I finally get him out of the door after a few attempts, get to my car, and realize my keys are in the diaper bag. So, holding Karis, I set him down and he tries to dart across the parking lot back to the library (still screaming). I almost tackle him to restrain him, not once, but 3 times. What in the world am I going to do??? Finally an older lady comes over and offers to hold Karis for me, as I obviously have no control right now. I was SO thankful for her!! I get him into the car and we go home, no DVD, and serious discipline awaiting him at home. Phew. I think I will go back to the library and apologize tomorrow!

I write this though as a reminder to myself of how often I act like this with the Lord.

How often am I just like Krieg, choosing to disobey my heavenly Father, thinking that he isn't really serious, that there really won't be consequences for my disobedience. Then when there are consequences, I whine, complain, throw a fit. And how often do I not trust my Father's commands, more than anything b/c I am prideful and want to do things on my own, not submit to someone else's rules. Yet does my Father not know what's good for me? Is He not always trying to protect me? Oh, if I would only listen to his heart of love toward me and trust him. Father, thank you that sometimes you do just as I did to Krieg and restrain me, kicking and screaming, and don't let me run into danger. Thank you for being a loving dad who protects me, even when I don't want to obey you and am to blinded by my own sin to really trust you.

So innocent looking!

yard sale find of the day

Clemson football helmet- $1
He LOVED it!

New Friends

This summer we met some new friends from Cairo, Egypt. The husband is getting his doctorate at Clemson, so they have been in the states for the past two years. We usually meet up for play dates at the various parks once a week or so. This one is our favorite. It's about 7-8 min from our house.

Youseff is 4, but his English is a little hard to understand, so it's funny to watch he and Krieg trying to communicate with each other. Sara and I have to do a lot of interpreting!

I am so thankful Karis can hang out in the swing some now. It is saving my back!

Loving Life

In an attempt to practice thankfulness for where God has me in life, here are a few things that I am loving and enjoying about my life right now...

I love...

• how ridiculously wide Karis opens her mouth when she's happy
• the few moments of brotherly love Krieg shows Karis every day
• that Krieg and I were the only native English speakers in a play date with 2 other families
• the "ugly produce section" at our produce store/stand. You would never believe how cheaply I have been able to make Karis' baby food!
• that on nights where Kevin has to go out with students, Krieg and I can just eat raw veggies, hummus and pita bread for dinner
• speaking of hummus and pita- I LOVE the addition of Greek night to our menu. Homemade pita bread, peanut butter hummus and Greek salads are my new favorite meal
• Clemson staff dinners every Monday night at our house.
  
• how Karis flails her arms and legs in excitement and joy when I come in the room to get her up from her nap
• that we now live only 30 min away from decent shopping-including a Target!
• that Krieg knows all the letters in "Clemson Tigers" just not always in the right order. And that he does the tigers cheer ALL day long, until the minute he falls asleep in bed (even as I'm typing)

Labor Day

I know I'm a little late on this one, but I just can seem to stay on top of my life! Between everyone getting sick and some ridiculously terrible two year old tantrums, we're a little behind on everything. But my parents came up for the weekend and here are a few pictures...

The men kept busy building this rock wall along the driveway

Obviously, Krieg was a great helper!

The girls watched from the shade!

Putting on the Pounds

Karis turned 6 months old on Thursday. At the doctor yesterday we had a good report that she has put on a ton of weight. She is still 95% in height, and jumped from 15% to 60% in weight. Apparently the combination of supplementing with formula and starting solids has worked.

This month Karis...

-learned to sit up unassisted (minus the occasional tipping over)


-moved to the big bathtub with Krieg- we are all loving baths together!


-started swinging next to her brother at the park, thus saving my back a good 20-30 min from the Bjorn. Thank you sweet girl!


-decided she much prefers formula in a bottle over milk from mommy-but has to endure the other stuff anyways


-has occasionally started taking longer naps-still without any consistency, but I'll take what I can get


-is still so hard to get a laugh out of. She has to be super tired for you to have any shot of getting giggles from her.


We love you sweet Karis!

Carrots on...

KARIS!!


This is what happens when you try to feed carrots to a very tired Karis. Good thing we were about to take a bath. They were all in her hair, clothes, face, you name it. At least she decided she like to eat this week.

What I came down to

The other night I was feeding Karis and putting her to bed while Krieg was playing downstairs by himself. He decided to decorate his face and surprise me!

They're here

Clemson students, that is!

This week there was a slow trickle of upperclassmen moving in, but Saturday was freshman move in day. So the population of Clemson has essentially doubled in a week. Kevin, Brink, Abbye and Lauren helped move students in on Saturday for a few hours, getting to meet a handful of students. It is such a different start to the year being at a campus where we don't know anyone, don't have things to invite people to, and don't really know how to navigate the campus yet.

We would love for you to pray that God would give our staff direction as they try to figure out where they should spend their time, how to meet people, etc. Also be praying that God would provide the rest of the support our other three staff need to be able to move up here.

5 Months

Happy 5 Months Sweet Karis!

After having observed Karis for the past five months and seen how different she is from Krieg, here are some predictions I have about her personality and what she is going to be like...

-An extrovert- I think she is definitely going to take after Kevin in this one. She loves being around people, loves to smile and engage people, and does not like to be left out of view of anyone. When we are in the double stroller, she keeps turning her head upward to try to find me behind her and make sure I'm still there.

- A talker- She is constantly "saying" something

- Adventurous- I am confident I am going to have to do a much better job childproofing our house with her than I ever had to with Krieg. If I told Krieg it was off limits, or not to put it in his mouth, he didn't. Karis puts everything in her mouth, reaches for everything anywhere close to her, always wants to be entertained or have something to play with.

- Miss Independent- While it has taken Karis a whole week to actually figure out how to swallow the rice cereal that I've been feeding her, since day 1 she has joyfully tried to "help" me feed her by trying desperately to grab the spoon and shove it into her mouth! Krieg, on the other hand, would still rather me feed him yogurt than have to do it himself!

We still haven't come close to figuring out this whole eating thing!

sibling love

Yummy Potato Salad

Farmers' Market Potato Salad

I tried a new recipe from Cooking Light last night and it was great! As always, I modified the recipe based on what I had in the kitchen, so here is the original with my modifications in parenthesis.

1 cup fresh corn kernels-2 ears
2 lbs fingerling potatoes (I just used baking pot.) cut into 1 in pieces.
2 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 Tbsp fresh tarragon (I used some fresh basil, and added some dried tarragon with the zucchini)
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 cup sliced red onions (or Vidalia)
3/4 cup diced zucchini (used zucch and squash)
1 cup cherry tomatoes (used chopped fresh tomatoes)

Coat corn and potatoes with 1 Tbsp oil and roast in oven on 425* for 30 min. (I cooked corn on the grill). Place in a large bowl.
Combine tarragon and next 5 ingredients in small bowl, stir with whisk. Gradually add remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp oil. Drizzle potato mixture with dressing, tossing gently.
In a large skillet coated with cooking spray, cook onion and zucchini on med/high for 4 min. (I also grilled these instead)
Add veggies and tomatoes to potatoes.

This was a great new way to use a lot of the ingredients I have been cooking with all summer.

What a face

Apparently she didn't want to be stuck in there!

Big Boy Bed

While in Myrtle, I made a trip to Target to buy Krieg some sheets and a blanket so we could convert his crib to a toddler bed. He was so excited that Kevin actually took down the rail the night we got back. Krieg LOVES it! He did great in it last night. In addition to the big boy bed, he has also proven to be growing up by going to the bathroom all by himself. I am SO thankful for this one. I've been trying to get him to go on his own without my help for so long, since he often has to go while I'm feeding Karis or have my hands full, and he finally decided to yesterday. He is so proud of himself! Looks like I will be doing a lot more bathroom cleaning these days though.

Myrtle Beach

This has been an unusual summer for our family, in that we didn't spend most of it in Myrtle Beach at the Leadership Project. I had no idea that I would actually miss it so much. Even though it has its fair share of inconveniences (living in a tiny, dirty motel room, lots of loud noise from crazy students, occasional roaches...) it is so worth it. Being away from the LP has been so confirming in my heart of how much I love our calling to invest in college students. I would not pass up those moments when a student comes to knock on my door to tell me about some huge truth they just grasped, or how God is revealing sin in their heart, for anything!

So when Kevin told me he had to go back to Project for Return Training, I convinced him to take all 3 of us along. We didn't get any pictures on the beach since Karis and I never actually made it down there. But here's one of Krieg in the pool. He learned to "jump" into the pool finally, which was more like a lean.

We had a cute family picture at the hotel last summer and I was hoping to get a similar one of our growing family, but as usual, it proved to be a little difficult. Here's the best we got.

I think Krieg surprised everyone while we were down there by how comfortable he has gotten with other people. Last summer he would not play with almost anyone for fear that I might leave him. This summer everyone was his friend, regardless of whether I was around or not. I am so thankful for how God has graciously taught him to trust other people.

Berries Berries Everywhere

I coerced Kevin into coming blueberry and blackberry picking on a farm in Six Mile this morning. It was great! They had SO many berry bushes, along with grapes, figs, muscadines, and tons of other things on the way. Krieg was in heaven, eating about as many as he put in the basket, but he was very serious about picking them off the bushes. And as usual, Karis was toted along with only a few minutes of fussing until she finally fell asleep in my arms. (She has given up on sleeping in the Bjorn- so sad!)

Our happy picker

Multi-Tasking